Localized Functional Neurochemical Marker Abnormalities in Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

ObjectiveProton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) was used to evaluate metabolic changes in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD).MethodsIn total, 14 OCD patients (mean age 28.9±7.2 years) and 14 healthy controls (mean age 32.6±7.1 years) with no history of neurological and psychiatric illness participated in this study. Brain metabolite concentrations were measured from a localised voxel on the right DLPFC using a 3-Tesla 1H-MRS.ResultsThe metabolic concentration of myo-inositol in patients with OCD increased significantly by 52% compared with the healthy controls, whereas glutamine/glutamate was decreased by 11%. However, there were no significant differences in N-acetylaspartate, choline, lactate and lipid between the two groups.ConclusionThese findings would be helpful to understand the pathophysiology of OCD associated with the brain metabolic abnormalities in the right DLPFC.

Download Full-text

Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Consequences on Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex in Reducing the Symptoms of the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Basic and Clinical Neuroscience Journal ◽

10.32598/bcn.2021.1920.2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sina Shafiezadeh ◽

◽

Atiyeh Mohammadshirazi ◽

Mansoureh Eshghi ◽

Zahra Dokhaei ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Direct Current ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Sham Group ◽

P Value ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Left Dlpfc ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽

The Right

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is one of the most prevalent debilitating mental disorders that has a general rate of 2 to 3 percent prevalence. Previous studies indicated that there are abnormalities in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) of OCD patients, so we decided to use transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to decline the symptoms of these patients. A total number of 24 OCD patients participated in this study with the hope of improvement after the application of tDCS. The subjects were randomly assigned into three groups as Sham, Right DLPFC, and Left DLPFC tDCS, and tDCS were applied for 5 consecutive days as in each session. The protocol was 2 mA current flow for two 15 minutes lasting period following by a 10 minutes rest in between (every session lasts for 40 minutes). Subsequently, the changes in obsessive-compulsive level and depression, anxiety, and stress followed that were evaluated via Yale-Brown and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21) tests by comparing the results of pre-experiment and post-experiment. Ultimately, the results of the Yale-Brown test which evaluates OCD symptoms in Right DLPFC shows significant changes that have occurred after intervention with tDCS (average difference of the Right DLPFC with sham group -6.18 and P-value ≤ 0.01, and for the Left DLPFC with sham group 3.155 and P-value ≥ 0.05). The average DASS scores of pre and post-experiment in the Left DLPFC were -4.63, in the Right DLPFC was -6.62, and in the sham group was -5.13 subsequently. Hereupon, this study demonstrates that tDCS may cause improvements in OCD symptoms.

Download Full-text

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test performance in obsessive-compulsive disorder: no evidence for involvement of dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

Psychiatry Research ◽

10.1016/0165-1781(95)02670-r ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 58 (1) ◽

pp. 37-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 99

Author(s):

Massimo Abbruzzese ◽

Stefano Ferri ◽

Silvio Scarone

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Test Performance ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test ◽

Card Sorting ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽

Wisconsin Card Sorting ◽

Sorting Test

Download Full-text

Fronto-striatal structures related with model-based control as an endophenotype for obsessive–compulsive disorder

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-91179-2 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Meltem I. Kasal ◽

Lutfullah Besiroglu ◽

Nabi Zorlu ◽

Nur Dikmeer ◽

Aslıhan Bilge ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Reaction Time ◽

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Model Based Control ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Model Based ◽

Model Free ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal ◽

Model Free Control

AbstractRecent theories suggest a shift from model-based goal-directed to model-free habitual decision-making in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). However, it is yet unclear, whether this shift in the decision process is heritable. We investigated 32 patients with OCD, 27 unaffected siblings (SIBs) and 31 healthy controls (HCs) using the two-step task. We computed behavioral and reaction time analyses and fitted a computational model to assess the balance between model-based and model-free control. 80 subjects also underwent structural imaging. We observed a significant ordered effect for the shift towards model-free control in the direction OCD > SIB > HC in our computational parameter of interest. However less directed analyses revealed no shift towards model-free control in OCDs. Nonetheless, we found evidence for reduced model-based control in OCDs compared to HCs and SIBs via 2nd stage reaction time analyses. In this measure SIBs also showed higher levels of model-based control than HCs. Across all subjects these effects were associated with the surface area of the left medial/right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Moreover, correlations between bilateral putamen/right caudate volumes and these effects varied as a function of group: they were negative in SIBs and OCDs, but positive in HCs. Associations between fronto-striatal regions and model-based reaction time effects point to a potential endophenotype for OCD.

Download Full-text

MRI-Based Multimodal Approach to the Assessment of Clinical Symptom Severity of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Psychiatry Investigation ◽

10.30773/pi.2020.0124 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (8) ◽

pp. 777-785

Author(s):

Shin-Eui Park ◽

Byeong-Chae Kim ◽

Jong-Chul Yang ◽

Gwang-Woo Jeong

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Clinical Symptom ◽

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽

Symptom Severity ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Structural Deformation ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Functional Abnormality ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Dorsolateral Prefrontal

Objective This study assessed the associations of the abnormal brain activation and functional connectivity (FC) during memory processing and brain volume alteration in conjunction with psychiatric symptom severity in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).Methods Twenty-OCD patients and 20-healthy controls (HC) underwent T1-weighted and functional imaging underlying explicit memory task.Results In memory encoding, OCD patients showed higher activities in right/left (Rt./Lt.) inferior temporal gyrus (ITG), medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), compared with HC. In task-based FC, caudate (Cd) was positively connected with DLPFC and ITG in OCD, while HC showed different connectivities of Cd-ACC and Rt.-Lt. ITG. In memory retrieval, only Cd was activated in OCD patients. Cd was positively connected with DLPFC and vmPFC in OCD, but negatively connected between same brain areas in HC. OCD patients showed increased gray matter (GM) volumes of cerebellum, DLPFC, orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), hippocampus, Cd and ITG, and concurrently, increased white matter volumes of DLPFC. In OCD patients, GM volumes of Cd and OFC were positively correlated with HAMA and Y-BOCS. Functional activity changes of Cd in OCD were positively correlated with Y-BOCS.Conclusion Our findings support to accessing clinical symptom and its severity linked by brain structural deformation and functional abnormality in OCD patients.

Download Full-text