title: The biology of obsessions and compulsions.
abstract: Samuel Johnson kept darting through doorways; a teen-ager named Sergei is unable to stop washing. Such repetitive, ritualistic behavior can make a person unable to function. The author thinks obsessive-compulsive disorder has biological roots in specific brain structures; she has treated it with certain drugs initially developed as antidepressants.
authors.affiliation: Child Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Rapoport
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000829:Animals, Domestic; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D002997:Clomipramine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003192:Compulsive Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D009770:Obsessive Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011859:Radiography
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D002997:Clomipramine