title: Cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuit abnormalities in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A voxel-based morphometric and fMRI study of the whole brain.
abstract: The primary aim of this study was to identify structural and functional abnormalities in the brains of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients. Another aim was to assess the effect of serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on brain structure of OCD patients. All subjects underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting functional MRI (fMRI). High-resolution three-dimensional images were processed using the voxel-based morphometry (VBM) method. The final analysis included 18 OCD patients and 16 healthy controls. In the OCD patients there was a decrease in gray matter volume in the bilateral cingulate cortex and bilateral striatum. In some cortical structures including the cerebellar anterior lobe, left orbital frontal gyrus, right middle frontal gyrus, left middle temporal gyrus, precentral gyrus, and postcentral gyrus, there was an increase in gray matter volume. On fMRI the OCD patients had overactivation of the right cerebellum and right parietal lobe and reduced activation of the left cingulate gyrus, putamen, and caudate nucleus. Eleven OCD patients who improved during 12 weeks of drug treatment with sertraline hydrochloride had a significant increase in gray matter volume in several brain structures but no significant differences were found on resting fMRI. The results indicated a consistent trend between structural and functional images. Higher cortical structures showed increased gray matter volume and increased activation as did the cerebellum whereas subcortical structures showed decreased gray matter volume and decreased activation. And brain structure improvement consisted with symptom improvement after SSRIs treatment in OCD patients.
authors.affiliation: Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China; Mental Health Center, Medical School of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wenxin
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Medical School of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qifeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Radiology Department, Zhejiang Provincial People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiangyang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China; Mental Health Center, Medical School of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Hangzhou Seventh People's Hospital, Hangzhou, China; Mental Health Center, Medical School of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yiquan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. Electronic address: chenshulin@zju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Shulin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D066128:Gray Matter / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013788:Thalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors
keywords: Cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical; Obsessive-compulsive disordervoxel-based morphometry; Sertraline hydrochloride; fMRI