title: The role of central oxytocin in obsessive compulsive disorder and related normal behavior.
abstract: Oxytocin (OT) is a neurosecretory nonapeptide synthesized in hypothalamic cells, which project to widely distributed sites in the CNS as well as the neurohypophysis. Central OT affects a variety of cognitive, grooming, affiliative, sexual, and reproductive behaviors in animals. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) includes a range of cognitive and behavioral symptoms that bear some relationship to dimensions of behavior associated with OT. Anecdotal data and a recently completed cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) study provide evidence that some forms of OCD are related to OT dysfunction. Based on these findings, we hypothesize: 1) that some forms of OCD are at the extreme end of a range of normal behaviors that are mediated by OT and related systems; and that 2) some normal cognitive, affiliative, and sexual behaviors contain elements that are similar to features of OCD. Alternative hypotheses are considered, and a series of predictions are presented concerning the relationship between central OT and the onset, course, treatment response, and response to challenge procedures seen in this form of OCD.
authors.affiliation: Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520.
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Leckman
authors.forename: W K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: W G
authors.initials: WG
authors.lastname: North
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Chappell
authors.forename: L H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Pauls
authors.forename: G M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Riddle
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: McDougle
authors.forename: L C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Barr
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000503:physiopathology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000503:physiopathology; D009481:Neurophysins / Q000502:physiology; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010121:Oxytocin / Q000502:physiology*; D013239:Stereotyped Behavior / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D009481:Neurophysins; D010121:Oxytocin