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Contact the study team using the details below to take part. If there are no contact details below please ask your doctor in the first instance.
Prof
Stephen
Pilling
s.pilling@ucl.ac.uk
Miss
Camilla
Nord
camilla.nord.11@ucl.ac.uk
Mood [affective] disorders
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Depression is a serious mental health problem that affects millions. Depression is usually treated using drugs and/or psychotherapy, but neither approach is successful for everyone, and some people do not respond to either. Therefore it is crucial that we continue to seek new methods for treating depression, and develop enhancements to existing treatments. In recent years, trials have documented improvements in depressive symptoms using noninvasive brain stimulation techniques, such as transcranial direct current stimulation, or tDCS. Our aim in this research is to investigate the effects of brain stimulation combined with psychological therapy in depression, an area that remains largely unexplored. Specifically, stimulation of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a brain region known to work inefficiently in depression, has been shown to result in an improvement of depressive symptoms, as well as in the patient's 'cognitive control' abilities. Because 'cognitive control' processes, such as concentrating and ignoring distracting thoughts, are engaged during psychological therapies for depression, we predict that DLPFC stimulation should improve how patients respond to psychological therapy. This study has considerable implications as it will potentially benefit a large number of patients for which current treatments are ineffective.
Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.
The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:
Interventional type: Device;Imaging;Psychological & Behavioural;
You can take part if:
You may not be able to take part if:
Antidepressant or other psychotropic medication at any time during the study Antidepressant or other psychotropic medication within previous 4 weeks (8 for fluoxetine) Recent illicit drug use Prior mixed, manic or psychotic symptoms or other psychiatric or neurological illness The standard exclusion criteria for MRI scanning will also be used, in order to avoid any risk to the subject: Pregnancy or breast feeding Any immovable metal in the body (pacemaker, aneurysm clip, cochlear implant, neurostimulator, IUD, schrapnel, metal fragment in eye, etc) Weight of above 250 lbs Claustrophobia Because tDCS can sometimes cause skin redness or irritation, participants with skin disease or using any skin treatment that could potentially cause irritation will be excluded.
Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.
The study is sponsored by University College London and funded by Brain & Behavior Research Foundation; University College London; .
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Read full details
for Trial ID: CPMS 15009
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