Reduced basal ganglia volumes in trichotillomania measured via morphometric magnetic resonance imaging.
A morphometric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study compared volumes of brain structures in 10 female subjects with trichotillomania (repetitive hair-pulling) versus 10 normal controls matched for sex, age, handedness, and education. Three-dimensional MRI scans were blindly normalized and segmented using well-characterized semiautomated intensity and differential contour algorithms by signal intensity-frequency histograms. Consistent with one a priori hypothesis, left putamen volume was found to be significantly smaller in trichotillomania subjects as compared with normal matched controls. This is the first report of a structural brain abnormality in trichotillomania. Results are discussed in terms of putative relationships between trichotillomania, Tourette's syndrome, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
O'Sullivan
R L
RL
Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Charlestown, USA.
Rauch
S L
SL
Breiter
H C
HC
Grachev
I D
ID
Baer
L
L
Kennedy
D N
DN
Keuthen
N J
NJ
Savage
C R
CR
Manzo
P A
PA
Caviness
V S
VS
Jenike
M A
MA
D000328:Adult; D000465:Algorithms; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000473:pathology*; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000473:pathology; D004292:Dominance, Cerebral / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005917:Globus Pallidus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis; D011699:Putamen / Q000473:pathology; D012016:Reference Values; D014256:Trichotillomania / Q000175:diagnosis*