Altered neural circuit for working memory before and after symptom provocation in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder

Abstract

The interaction between symptom provocation and WM occurring in the fronto-striatal system may hold the key to the neurobiology of OCD.

Selective impairment in visual perception of biological motion in obsessive-compulsive disorder

“…For example, significantly higher metabolic activity has been observed in the fronto-subcortical circuitry in patients with OCD, and this elevated activation is hypothesized to arise from disinhibition that, in turn, may be related to psychopathological symptoms such as inability to control reflexive responses and to regulate social behavior [Baxter et al, 1987[Baxter et al, , 1988Benkelfat et al, 1990;Insel, 1992;Kang et al, 2004;Machlin et al, 1991;McGuire et al, 1994;Shin et al, 2006;Swedo et al, 1989]. As for the neural bases of perceptual impairments in OCD, there is no direct evidence implicating deficits in the sensory visual pathways.…”

Neuropsychological profiles of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: early onset versus late onset

“…Brain imaging techniques, including computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), have revealed morphological changes in the basal ganglia or frontal lobe of OCD patients (Grachev et al, 1998;Hoehn-Saric & Green-berg, 1997;Kim et al, 2001;Szeszko et al, 1999). Positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (f MRI) studies have also revealed abnormal activation in the striatum, orbitofrontal cortex, thalamus, and cingulate gyrus during the resting state (Baxter et al, 1992;Perani et al, 1995), as well as symptom provocation (Rauch et al, 1996;Shin et al, 2006) and cognitive activation (Pujol et al, 1999;Rauch et al, 1997). Unlike brain imaging studies, neuropsychological studies have shown impairments in various cognitive domains in OCD patients.…”

Handbook of Assessing Variants and Complications in Anxiety Disorders

“…The lack of activation in the rDLPFC in OCD patients during visual working memory tasks is telling, given the general importance of this area in tasks of executive functioning and visual working memory. Shin et al ( 2006 ) also found increased activation in the anterior cingulate (AC) during working memory tasks in OCD patients after symptom provocation. Because the AC is important for anxiety control, Shin et al ( 2006 ) posited that the AC might operate to control anxiety in OCD patients during working memory tasks by focusing attention on solving a problem at hand.…”

“…Using a PET scan, Shin et al ( 2006 ) compared the neurophysiology of visual working memory in OCD patients ( n = 12) to nonclinical controls ( n = 12) matched for age and sex. The OCD group committed more errors than did the healthy control group on the working memory task.…”

“…The results of the PET scan also indicated that during this task, different areas of the brain were recruited for OCD patients than for healthy controls. Healthy controls primarily showed activation in the rDLPFC and right orbitofrontal cortex, areas that are largely responsible for response inhibition in tasks of executive functioning or working memory (Shin et al, 2006 ) . In contrast, OCD patients showed activation in the right caudate and right superior parietal cortex during visual working memory tasks.…”