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Brain activation by disgust-inducing pictures in obsessive-compulsive disorder
Nathan A Shapira1, Yijun Liu, Alex G He
1Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Background:
There is growing interest in the role of disgust in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
Methods:
Eight OCD subjects with contamination preoccupations and eight gender- and age-matched healthy volunteers viewed pictures from the International Affective Picture System during functional magnetic resonance imaging scans.
Results:
A different distribution of brain activations was found during disgust-inducing visual stimulation in several areas, most notably the insula, compared with neutral stimulation in both OCD subjects and healthy volunteers. Furthermore, whereas activation during the threat-inducing task in OCD subjects showed a pattern similar to that in healthy volunteers, the pattern of activation during the disgust-inducing task was significantly different, including greater increases in the right insula, parahippocampal region, and inferior frontal sites.
Conclusions:
This pilot study supports the relevance of disgust in the neurocircuitry of OCD with contamination-preoccupation symptoms; future studies looking at non-OCD individuals with high disgust ratings, non-contamination-preoccupied OCD individuals, and individuals with other anxiety disorders are needed.