Brain-mapping abnormalities in a family with three obsessive compulsive children

Brain electrical activity mapping (BEAM) and personality disorder assessment (Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II) were performed on a married couple and their four children. Three of the children had previously been identified as having obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Temporal lobe abnormalities were found in all four children but in neither parent. If there is a neurophysiologic basis for this subtype of OCD, brain electrical abnormalities may be necessary, but not sufficient, to produce the clinical syndrome. Delineation of specific electrophysiological and personality characteristics may help define subtypes of obsessive compulsive disorder.