Rachel Marsh1, Guillermo Horga2, Nidhi Parashar2, Zhishun Wang2, Bradley S Peterson2, H Blair Simpson3. 1. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York. Electronic address: MarshR@nyspi.columbia.edu. 2. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York. 3. Division of Clinical Therapeutics in the Department of Psychiatry, the New York State Psychiatric Institute and the Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, New York.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine the functioning of fronto-striatal brain circuits that support self-regulatory capacities including conflict resolution and sequential processing in unmedicated adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). METHODS: We compared functional magnetic resonance imaging blood oxygen level-dependent response in 22 adults with OCD with 22 healthy, age-matched control subjects during performance of a Simon Spatial Incompatibility task. We used general linear modeling to compare groups in their patterns of brain activation during correct responses to conflict-laden stimuli and explore the effects of trial sequence on group differences. RESULTS: Behavioral performance on the Simon task did not differ between groups. In response to conflict-laden stimuli, OCD participants activated fronto-striatal regions significantly more than control subjects, specifically a right hemisphere cluster encompassing the putamen, insula, and inferior frontal gyrus. Their activation of this cluster was driven not by conflict on a current trial but by their response to the alternation of stimulus congruence (incongruent or congruent) across trial sequences (i.e., current and preceding trials) and was most accentuated in participants with more severe symptoms in the doubt/checking dimension. Functional connectivity from the putamen to other fronto-striatal regions was also greater in the OCD compared with control participants. CONCLUSIONS: When engaging the self-regulatory control necessary to resolve conflict and process alternating stimuli, OCD participants displayed excessive activation in a fronto-striatal circuit that differs from the orbitofrontal cortex-anterior cingulate cortex-caudate circuit typically implicated in OCD. Dysfunction in this circuit was associated with processing changes in the stimulus context. We speculate that this dysfunction might be related to the cognitive inflexibility typical of persons with OCD.
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to examine the functioning of fronto-striatal brain circuits that support self-regulatory capacities including conflict resolution and sequential processing in unmedicated adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). METHODS: We compared functional magnetic resonance imaging blood oxygen level-dependent response in 22 adults with OCD with 22 healthy, age-matched control subjects during performance of a Simon Spatial Incompatibility task. We used general linear modeling to compare groups in their patterns of brain activation during correct responses to conflict-laden stimuli and explore the effects of trial sequence on group differences. RESULTS: Behavioral performance on the Simon task did not differ between groups. In response to conflict-laden stimuli, OCDparticipants activated fronto-striatal regions significantly more than control subjects, specifically a right hemisphere cluster encompassing the putamen, insula, and inferior frontal gyrus. Their activation of this cluster was driven not by conflict on a current trial but by their response to the alternation of stimulus congruence (incongruent or congruent) across trial sequences (i.e., current and preceding trials) and was most accentuated in participants with more severe symptoms in the doubt/checking dimension. Functional connectivity from the putamen to other fronto-striatal regions was also greater in the OCD compared with control participants. CONCLUSIONS: When engaging the self-regulatory control necessary to resolve conflict and process alternating stimuli, OCDparticipants displayed excessive activation in a fronto-striatal circuit that differs from the orbitofrontal cortex-anterior cingulate cortex-caudate circuit typically implicated in OCD. Dysfunction in this circuit was associated with processing changes in the stimulus context. We speculate that this dysfunction might be related to the cognitive inflexibility typical of persons with OCD.
Authors: Scott L Rauch; Michelle M Wedig; Christopher I Wright; Brian Martis; Katherine G McMullin; Lisa M Shin; Paul A Cannistraro; Sabine Wilhelm Journal: Biol Psychiatry Date: 2006-02-21 Impact factor: 13.382
Authors: Rachel Marsh; Joanna E Steinglass; Andrew J Gerber; Kara Graziano O'Leary; Zhishun Wang; David Murphy; B Timothy Walsh; Bradley S Peterson Journal: Arch Gen Psychiatry Date: 2009-01
Authors: Rachel Marsh; Gregory Z Tau; Zhishun Wang; Yuankai Huo; Ge Liu; Xuejun Hao; Mark G Packard; Bradley S Peterson; H Blair Simpson Journal: Am J Psychiatry Date: 2014-12-19 Impact factor: 18.112
Authors: David Pagliaccio; Rachel Middleton; Dianne Hezel; Shari Steinman; Ivar Snorrason; Marina Gershkovich; Raphael Campeas; Anthony Pinto; Page Van Meter; H Blair Simpson; Rachel Marsh Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2019-09-23 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: Wi Hoon Jung; Murat Yücel; Je-Yeon Yun; Youngwoo B Yoon; Kang Ik K Cho; Linden Parkes; Sung Nyun Kim; Jun Soo Kwon Journal: Hum Brain Mapp Date: 2016-08-22 Impact factor: 5.038