title: Abnormal regional spontaneous neuronal activity associated with symptom severity in treatment-naive patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder revealed by resting-state functional MRI.
abstract: A large number of neuroimaging studies have revealed the dysfunction of brain activities in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) during various tasks. However, regional spontaneous activity abnormalities in OCD are gradually being revealed. In this current study, we aimed to investigate cerebral regions with abnormal spontaneous activity using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and further explored the relationship between the spontaneous neuronal activity and symptom severity of patients with OCD. Thirty-one patients with OCD and 32 age-and sex-matched normal controls received the fMRI scans and fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF) approach was applied to identify the abnormal brain activity. We found that patients with OCD showed decreased fALFF not only in the cortical-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuits like the thalamus, but also in other cerebral systems like the cerebellum, the parietal cortex and the temporal cortex. Additionally, OCD patients demonstrated significant associations between decreased fALFF and obsessive-compulsive symptom severity in the thalamus, the paracentral lobule and the cerebellum. Our results provide evidence for abnormal spontaneous neuronal activity in distributed cerebral areas and support the notion that brain areas outside the CSTC circuits may also play an important role in the pathophysiology of OCD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Psychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China; Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Linlin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Wuxi Mental Health Center, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China; Wuxi Tongren International Rehabilitation Hospital, Wuxi, China.
authors.forename: Xiangshuai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Wuxi Mental Health Center, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China; Wuxi Tongren International Rehabilitation Hospital, Wuxi, China.
authors.forename: Shuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Imaging, Wuxi People's Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China.
authors.forename: Qunfeng
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Xingui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Mental Health Center of Anhui Province, Hefei, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Wuxi Mental Health Center, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China; Wuxi Tongren International Rehabilitation Hospital, Wuxi, China.
authors.forename: Fuquan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Wuxi Mental Health Center, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China; Wuxi Tongren International Rehabilitation Hospital, Wuxi, China.
authors.forename: Zhenhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Wuxi Mental Health Center, Nanjing Medical University, Wuxi, China; Wuxi Tongren International Rehabilitation Hospital, Wuxi, China. Electronic address: tianz@njmu.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tian
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012146:Rest; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (fALFF); Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Resting-state; Spontaneous brain activity