title: Volumetric investigation of the frontal-subcortical circuitry in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
abstract: The pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is thought to involve disturbance of the frontal-subcortical circuitry. To investigate the morphological characteristics of this circuitry, we examined the volume of the orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate, thalamus, caudate, and the putamen in 36 age- and sex-matched OCD patients and normal control subjects using three-dimensional magnetic resonance (MR) brain imaging. The left orbitofrontal volumes were found to be significantly smaller in the OCD patients and showed significant negative correlations with obsessive-compulsive symptom severity. These findings suggest that a structural abnormality of this brain region is implicated in the pathophysiology of OCD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, BK 21 Human Life Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Do-Hyung
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Jae-Jin
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jung-Seok
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Young Il
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Chi-Won
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Tak
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Youn
authors.forename: Moon Hee
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Kee-Hyun
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Jun Soo
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kwon
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000473:pathology*; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology