title: Amygdala activation and symptom dimensions in obsessive-compulsive disorder.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite knowledge of amygdala involvement in fear and anxiety, its contribution to the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) remains controversial. In the context of neuroimaging studies, it seems likely that the heterogeneity of the disorder might have contributed to a lack of consistent findings.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To assess the influence of OCD symptom dimensions on amygdala responses to a well-validated emotional face-matching paradigm.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study of 67 patients with OCD and 67 age-, gender- and education-level matched healthy controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The severity of aggression/checking and sexual/religious symptom dimensions were significantly associated with heightened amygdala activation in those with OCD when responding to fearful faces, whereas no such correlations were seen for other symptom dimensions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Amygdala functional alterations in OCD appear to be specifically modulated by symptom dimensions whose origins may be more closely linked to putative amygdala-centric processes, such as abnormal fear processing.
authors.affiliation: Esther Via, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, and Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry & Melbourne Health, The University of Melbourne, National Neuroscience Facility, Melbourne, Australia; Narcís Cardoner, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, Carlos III Health Institute, CIBERSAM, Spain and Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Jesús Pujol, MD, MRI Research Unit, CRC Mar, Hospital de Mar, Barcelona, Spain; Pino Alonso, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, Carlos III Health Institute, CIBERSAM, Spain, and Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Marina López-Solà, PhD, MRI Research Unit, CRC Mar, Hospital de Mar, Barcelona, Spain and Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA; Eva Real, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain and Carlos III Health Institute, CIBERSAM, Spain; Oren Contreras-Rodríguez, PhD, Carlos III Health Institute, CIBERSAM, Spain and MRI Research Unit, CRC Mar, Hospital de Mar, Barcelona, Spain; Joan Deus, PhD, MRI Research Unit, CRC Mar, Hospital de Mar, Barcelona, and Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Cinto Segalàs, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, and Carlos III Health Institute, CIBERSAM, Spain; José M. Menchón, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, Carlos III Health Institute, CIBERSAM, Spain, and Department of Clini
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Via
authors.forename: Narcís
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cardoner
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pujol
authors.forename: Pino
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: López-Solà
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Real
authors.forename: Oren
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Contreras-Rodríguez
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deus
authors.forename: Cinto
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Segalàs
authors.forename: José M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Menchón
authors.forename: Carles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Soriano-Mas
authors.forename: Ben J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Harrison
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000679:Amygdala / Q000503:physiopathology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000503:physiopathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005145:Face; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult