OCD and the Brain – Dr Tobias Hauser

 Dr Tobias Hauser,  who leads the Developmental Computational Psychiatry Group, has received £83,500 in funding from Wellcome to develop accessible toolkits for young people and parents to better understand what is happening in the brain during Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). 

OCD is the fourth most common psychiatric illness and among the ten most debilitating. Despite this, it is often neglected and carries a lot of stigma. Dr Hauser and his team investigate why OCD mostly emerges during adolescence, and how brain development contributes to OCD. During this research, he has seen a significant disconnect between those affected by OCD and the neuroscience research. 

 The project, co-led by Dr Hauser and Cassandra Hugill, Public Engagement Manager, was designed in collaboration with lived experts and in partnership with OCD Action and the International OCD Foundation. It aims to overcome the prevailing disconnect between neuroscience research and the OCD community by delivering series of explorative workshops will be run to understand the relationship between what someone with OCD feels is happening and what the research shows. From this, the team will develop two digital toolkits that will support those living with the condition and their parents. 

Crucially, the project will be developed in collaboration with all people living with OCD at every stage. Through this, the project will also inform the research more widely, ensuring that the research is best meeting the needs of those it aims to help.