The Role of Serotonin in Compulsive Behavior in Humans: Underlying Brain Mechanisms

• Status: Recruiting
• Trial end date: 2024-08-01
• Target enrollment: 0
• Participant gender: All

Summary

The aim of this project is to investigate:

• The status of the central serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) system in compulsive behaviour and how it is affected by sub-chronic escitalopram administration

• The mechanisms underlying how sub-chronic administration of escitalopram affects the central 5-HT system

• How changes in cognitive performance, including the balance between habitual and goal-directed mechanisms, are affected in compulsive behaviour by boosting 5-HT function

• How functional brain changes in cognitive function measured with magnetic resonance imaging relate to altered 5-HT function following escitalopram administration.

• Phase: Phase 4
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers?: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Details

• Lead Sponsor: Rigshospitalet, Denmark
• Collaborators: Lundbeck Foundation; University of Cambridge
• Treatments: Citalopram; Dexetimide; Serotonin

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• OCD patients and healthy volunteers (male or female) between 18 and 70 years.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Current or previous neurological disease, severe somatic disease, or consumption of medical drugs likely to influence the test results

• Non- fluent in Danish or pronounced visual or auditory impairments

• Current or past learning disability.

• Pregnancy (females).

• Lactation (females).

• Participation in experiments with radioactivity (> 10 mSv) within the last year or significant occupational exposure to radioactivity.

• Contraindications for MRI (pacemaker, metal implants, etc.).

• Allergy to the ingredients in the administered drug.

• Abnormal ECG (e.g. prolonged QT syndrome).

• Dizzy when changing from supine to upright position (e.g. postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome).

• Mild hypotension (blood pressure below 100/70 mmHg) or hypertension (blood pressure above 140/90 mmHg).

• Head injury or concussion resulting in loss of consciousness for more than 2 min.

• Alcohol or drug abuse

• Drug use other than tobacco and alcohol within the last 30 days.

• Hash > 50 x lifetime.

• Drugs > 10 x lifetime (for each substance).

• Current medication with serotonergic acting compounds. Use of other psychoactive substances must be stable at least one month prior to inclusion and maintained throughout the study.

• Severe physical impairments affecting eyesight or motor performance.

• For the OCD group: other Axis I mental disorder as primary diagnosis according to ICD-10 criteria.

• For healthy volunteers: any current or former primary psychiatric disorder (Axis I WHO ICD-10 diagnostic classification).