Abnormal brain activation in excoriation (skin-picking)
                        disorder: Evidence from an executive planning fMRI study

BackgroundExcoriation (skin-picking) disorder (SPD) is a relatively common psychiatric condition whose neurobiological basis is unknown.AimsTo probe the function of fronto-striatal circuitry in SPD.MethodEighteen participants with SPD and 15 matched healthy controls undertook an executive planning task (Tower of London) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Activation during planning was compared between groups using region of interest and whole-brain permutation cluster approaches.ResultsThe SPD group exhibited significant functional underactivation in a cluster encompassing bilateral dorsal striatum (maximal in right caudate), bilateral anterior cingulate and right medial frontal regions. These abnormalities were, for the most part, outside the dorsal planning network typically activated by executive planning tasks.ConclusionsAbnormalities of neural regions involved in habit formation, action monitoring and inhibition appear involved in the pathophysiology of SPD. Implications exist for understanding the basis of excessive grooming and the relationship of SPD with putative obsessive–compulsive spectrum disorders.

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The Relationship of Pathologic Skin Picking to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease ◽

10.1097/00005053-200103000-00010 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 189 (3) ◽

pp. 193-195 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Bernadette A. Cullen ◽

Jack F. Samuels ◽

O. Joseph Bienvenu ◽

Marco Grados ◽

Rudolf Hoehn-Saric ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Skin Picking ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

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Reduced anterior cingulate glutamate of comorbid skin-picking disorder in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Journal of Affective Disorders ◽

10.1016/j.jad.2020.01.059 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 265 ◽

pp. 193-199

Author(s):

Huirong Zheng ◽

Wanqun Yang ◽

Bin Zhang ◽

Guanmin Hua ◽

Shibin Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Skin Picking ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Skin Picking Disorder

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The relationship of psychological trauma with trichotillomania and skin picking

Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment ◽

10.2147/ndt.s79554 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 1203 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Eylem Özten ◽

Gökben Hızlı Sayar ◽

Gaye Kağan ◽

Sibel Işık ◽

Oğuz Karamustafalıoğlu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychological Trauma ◽

Skin Picking ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

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Experiences of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Qualitative Health Research ◽

10.1177/1049732315601666 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 26 (14) ◽

pp. 2009-2023 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Olivia Knapton

Keyword(s):

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder ◽

Thematic Analysis ◽

The Body ◽

The Self ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Compulsive Disorder ◽

Qualitative Thematic Analysis ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health problem characterized by persistent obsessions and compulsions. This article provides insights into experiences of OCD through a qualitative, thematic analysis performed on a set of interviews with people with OCD. Four themes were found as central in the participants’ descriptions of OCD episodes: (a) space, (b) the body, (c) objects, and (d) interactions. The findings also show that episodes of OCD can be grouped into three broad categories: (a) activity episodes, which revolve around everyday tasks; (b) state episodes, which are concerned with the self and identity; and (c) object episodes, which are concerned with the effects of objects on the self. The relationship of this three-way classification of OCD episodes to existing cognitive models of OCD is discussed. The study also demonstrates the value of categorizing episodes, rather than people, into subtypes of OCD so that intra-participant variation can be highlighted.

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Task Context and Frontal Lobe Activation in the Stroop Task

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/jocn.2010.21492 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 23 (4) ◽

pp. 867-879 ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

Darlene Floden ◽

Antonino Vallesi ◽

Donald T. Stuss

Keyword(s):

Stroop Task ◽

Large Body ◽

Case Series ◽

Anterior Cingulate ◽

Task Context ◽

Activation Patterns ◽

Functional Roles ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

And Task

The ability to step outside a routine—to select a new response over a habitual one—is a cardinal function of the frontal lobes. A large body of neuroimaging work now exists pointing to increased activation within the anterior cingulate when stimuli evoke competing responses (incongruent trials) relative to when responses converge (congruent trials). However, lesion evidence that the ACC is necessary in this situation is inconsistent. We hypothesized that this may be a consequence of different task procedures (context) used in lesion and neuroimaging studies. The present study attempted to reconcile the lesion and the fMRI findings by having subjects perform clinical and experimental versions of the Stroop task during BOLD fMRI acquisition. We examined the relationship of brain activation patterns, specifically within the anterior cingulate and left dorsolateral frontal regions, to congruent and incongruent trial types in different task presentations or contexts. The results confirmed our hypothesis that ACC activity is relatively specific to unblocked–uncued incongruent Stroop conditions that have not been used in large neuropsychological studies. Moreover, the size of the behavioral Stroop interference effect was significantly correlated with activity in ACC and left dorsolateral regions, although in different directions. The current results are discussed in terms of previous proposals for the functional roles of these regions in activating, monitoring, and task setting, and the relation of these findings to the disparate reports in recent case series is considered.

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The Relationship of Three Cortical Regions to an Information-Processing Model

Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience ◽

10.1162/089892904323057353 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 637-653 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

John R. Anderson ◽

Yulin Qin ◽

V. Andrew Stenger ◽

Cameron S. Carter

Keyword(s):

Region Of Interest ◽

Blood Oxygen Level Dependent ◽

Blood Oxygen Level ◽

Information Processing Model ◽

Response Hand ◽

Equation Solving ◽

Fmri Study ◽

Cortical Regions ◽

Relationship Of

This research tests a model of the computational role of three cortical regions in tasks like algebra equation solving. The model assumes that there is a left parietal region-of-interest (ROI) where the problem expression is represented and transformed, a left prefrontal ROI where information for solving the task is retrieved, and a motor ROI where hand movements to produce the answer are programmed. A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of an abstract symbolmanipulation task was performed to articulate the roles of these three regions. Participants learned to associate words with instructions for transforming strings of letters. The study manipulated the need to retrieve these instructions, the need to transform the strings, and whether there was a delay between calculation of the answer and the output of the answer. As predicted, the left parietal ROI mainly reflected the need for a transformation and the left prefrontal ROI the need for retrieval. Homologous right ROIs showed similar but weaker responses. Neither the prefrontal nor the parietal ROIs responded to delay, but the motor ROI did respond to delay, implying motor rehearsal over the delay. Except for the motor ROI, these patterns of activity did not vary with response hand. In an ACT-R model, it was shown that the activity of an imaginal buffer predicted the blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) response of the parietal ROI, the activity of a retrieval buffer predicted the response of the prefrontal ROI, and the activity of a manual buffer predicted the response of the motor ROI.

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Unraveling the relationship of loneliness and isolation in schizophrenia: Polygenic dissection and causal inference

10.1101/2020.11.06.20226910 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

A. Andreu-Bernabeu ◽

C.M. Díaz-Caneja ◽

J. Costas ◽

L. de Hoyos ◽

C. Stella ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Variation ◽

Control Sample ◽

Predictive Ability ◽

Obsessive Compulsive ◽

Correlation Pattern ◽

Independent Case ◽

Obsessive Compulsive Disorders ◽

Relationship Of ◽

The Relationship ◽

Compulsive Disorders

ABSTRACTThere is increasing recognition of the association between loneliness and social isolation (LNL-ISO) with schizophrenia. Here, we demonstrate significant LNL-ISO polygenic score prediction on schizophrenia in an independent case-control sample (N=3,488). We then dissect schizophrenia predisposing variation into subsets of variants based on their effect on LNL-ISO. Genetic variation with concordant effects in both phenotypes show significant SNP-based heritability enrichment, higher polygenic predictive ability in females and positive covariance with other mental disorders such as depression, anxiety, attention-deficit hyperactivity, alcohol use disorder, and autism. Conversely, genetic variation with discordant effects is only predictive in males and negatively correlated with those disorders. This correlation pattern is not observed for bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Mendelian randomization analyses demonstrate a plausible bi-directional causal relationship between LNL-ISO and schizophrenia, with a greater effect of LNL-ISO liability on schizophrenia. These results illustrate the genetic footprint of LNL-ISO on schizophrenia and suggest its role as a potential target for early intervention.

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