Brain glucose metabolic changes associated with neuropsychological improvements after 4 months of treatment in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
OBJECTIVE
The study was designed to elucidate regional brain metabolic changes according to a treatment and their relationship with neuropsychological performance changes in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).


METHODS
Cerebral glucose metabolic rates were repeatedly measured before and after treatment in 10 patients with OCD using [18F]-2-fluoro-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET). They were compared on a voxel-basis, and the correlations were counted between the regional metabolic changes and the degree to improvement on the neuropsychological assessments.


RESULTS
After treatment, the patients showed significant (P < 0.005, two-tailed) regional metabolic changes in multiple brain areas involving frontal-subcortical circuits and parietal-cerebellar networks. Especially, the metabolic changes of the putamen, the cerebellum, and the hippocampus were significantly correlated with the improvement of the immediate- and delayed-recall scores of the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT).


CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest a possibility that metabolic changes of frontal-subcortical and parietal-cerebellar circuit changes may underlie cognitive improvements in patients with OCD.
Kang
D-H
DH
Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.
Kwon
J S
JS
Kim
J-J
JJ
Youn
T
T
Park
H-J
HJ
Kim
M S
MS
Lee
D S
DS
Lee
M C
MC
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000628:therapy*; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005947:Glucose