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Updated: Aug 7, 2026

Meta-analysis of Voxel-Based Neuroimaging Studies using Seed-based d Mapping with Permutation of Subject Images (SDM-PSI)
Published on: November 27, 2019
Parietal white matter abnormalities in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a magnetic resonance spectroscopy study at
H Kitamura1, T Shioiri, T Kimura
1Department of Psychiatry, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan. kitamura@med.niigata-u.ac.jp
Objective:
To identify a neurochemical basis for the hypothesis that an aberrant cortico-subcortical circuit underlies obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The white matter was also investigated because of recent research which suggests the altered connectivity of axons.
Method:
Using 3-Tesla magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the relative concentrations of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and choline-containing compounds (Cho) to creatine/phosphocreatine (Cr) were measured in the anterior cingulate, basal ganglia, thalamus, frontal and parietal white matter of 12 OCD patients, and 32 control subjects.
Results:
The mean concentration of Cho/Cr was significantly higher in the patients than in the controls, but only in the parietal white matter, while no significant group differences in NAA/Cr were observed in any of the brain regions. Parietal Cho/Cr correlated positively with the severity of OCD symptoms.
Conclusion:
This finding provides indirect evidence for the parietal white matter involvement in OCD, thus suggesting a change in the phospholipids of myelinated axons and/or glia cells.
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