PSILOCD
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Evaluating the effects of the 5-HT2A agonist psilocybin on the neurocognitive and clinical correlates of compulsivity: a pharmacological-challenge feasibility study
IRAS ID
298206
Contact name
David Nutt
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Imperial College London
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Case studies and small clinical trials in the literature have shed light on the possibility of a novel tool to investigate OCD. The potential for an enduring effect of psilocybin, independent of its hallucinogenic effect, is particularly interesting and may reflect its central actions as a 5-HT2A agonist. We intend to test the hypotheses that psilocybin exerts an enduring effect on OCD symptoms by activating the 5-HT2A receptor mechanisms in the relevant corticostriatal brain circuitry to restore OCD-related deficits in behavioural inhibition (attentional set shift, reversal learning), the balance between goal directed behaviour and habit, and by inducing plasticity (assessed using EEG paradigms and plasma BDNF measures). To this end, we plan to do a single-blind pharmacological-challenge study on 20 patients with OCD (scoring at least 16 on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, Y-BOCS), where every patient receives 2 doses of psilocybin, maximum dose of 10mg (considered small-moderate). The study will involve 3 visits to the CNWL-Imperial Psychopharmacology and Psychedelic Research (CIPPRes) Clinic at St. Charles Hospital (Central and North West London NHS Trust, CNWL), including screening, as well as 12 remote calls involving preparation, psychological debriefing (psychedelic "integration") and data collection in the form of psychiatric interviews, questionnaires and cognitive tasks. This study has three primary outcomes, comparing scores at 1 week pre-psilocybin, 4 weeks after the first psilocybin dose and 4 weeks after the second: changes in the ID-ED set shifting task, changes in Y-BOCS scores and changes in the visual long-term potentiation (vLTP) EEG task.
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/LO/0804
Date of REC Opinion
14 Dec 2021
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion