Home Department: Psychology
Mentor: Carolyn Rodriguez (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences)

"Neurocircuitry of Unwanted and Intrusive Sexual/Religious Obsessions in OCD"

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by perseverative thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviors (compulsions). Taboo-thoughts OCD has especially distressing sexual and religious obsessions, which are significantly unresponsive to cognitive behavioral therapy. Dr. Rodriguez (PI of Stanford OCD Research Lab) has completed data collection for 45 OCD patients and 30 healthy controls (R01MH105461: NMDAR Modulation [via ketamine] As A Therapeutic Target and Probe of Neural Dysfunction in OCD), and the dataset is ready for analysis. Nicolette’s project will examine ketamine’s effects on taboo obsessions, cognitive control circuits (via task-based fMRI), and circuit connectivity within the default mode network (via resting-state fMRI).