Brain and Behavior Based Strategies in the Treatment of OCD

Tuesday, March 10, 2020, 2:00 pm EDT
Brain and Behavior Based Strategies in the Treatment of OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder affects 1 person in 40, but is often undiagnosed or improperly treated. Even with optimal treatment, a third of OCD sufferers do not improve significantly; remission of moderate to severe disease is uncommon. Dr. Pittenger will discuss two new investigational approaches: one using low-voltage non-invasive brain stimulation and the other harnessing the exciting new strategy of fMRI-driven neurofeedback.

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Presented by 
Christopher Pittenger, M.D., Ph.D.
Christopher Pittenger, M.D., Ph.D.

Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry

Deputy Chair for Translational Research, Psychiatry

Director, Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, Psychiatry

Director, Yale Program for Psychedelic Science, Psychiatry

Director, Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health

Director, Yale OCD Research Clinic, Psychiatry

Director, Neuroscience Research Training Program, Yale Department of Psychiatry

Yale School of Medicine

2025 Distinguished Investigator Grant

2015 Independent Investigator Grant

2009. 2007 Young Investigator Grant

 

Chris Pittenger earned his MD and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University, where his graduate work was done with Nobel Prize recipient Eric Kandel. He returned to Yale University, his undergraduate alma mater, for residency and research training in psychiatry in 2003. He joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2007 and is now Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Psychology and in the Child Study Center, and Deputy Chair for Translational Research in the Department of Psychiatry .

Chris has always been fascinated by the question of how the brain, a complex but ultimately a physical structure, creates thought, feeling, consciousness, and other aspects of the mind. As a psychiatrist he is additionally focused on how these processes go wrong - how brain dysregulation leads to dysregulated cognition, emotion, and behavior and to mental suffering, and how advancing our understanding of these relationships can guide us to new strategies to alleviate that suffering. Much of his work has focused on obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome and on the cortico-basal ganglia circuitry that is implicated in their pathophysiology. More recently he has co-founded the Yale Program for Psychedelic Science, focused on understanding how molecules like psilocybin and LSD can teach us about brain and behavior and may lead to new treatments for a range of neuropsychiatric pathology. He is also one of the founding Directors of the Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, which seeks to bridge disciplines and levels of analysis to bring new therapeutics to individuals suffering from disorders of the mind and brain.

Dr. Pittenger's research and clinical work have been acknowledged by a number of prestigious awards, including grant funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, NARSAD, the Tourette Syndrome of America, the Doris Duke Charitable Trust, and other organizations. He has won a number of awards, including from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Society for Neuroscience, the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American College of Psychiatrists. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation and Chair of both their Grant Review Committee and their Annual Research Symposium Planning Committee. He is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Neurological Association.

Moderated by
Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D.
Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
 

Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., serves as the President & CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, the largest private funder of mental health research grants. Dr. Borenstein developed the Emmy-nominated public television program “Healthy Minds,” and serves as host and executive producer of the series. The program, broadcast nationwide, is available online, and focuses on topics in psychiatry in order to educate the public, reduce stigma and offer a message of hope. Dr. Borenstein served as Editor-in-Chief of Psychiatric News, the newspaper of the American Psychiatric Association from 2012 - 2023.

Dr. Borenstein is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine and serves as the Chair of the Section of Psychiatry at the Academy. He also has served as the President of the New York State Psychiatric Association. Dr. Borenstein earned his undergraduate degree at Harvard and his medical degree at New York University.