Amygdala activation and symptom dimensions in obsessive-compulsive disorder
Esther Via1, Narcís Cardoner, Jesús Pujol
1Esther Via, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, and Melbourne Neuropsychiatry Centre, Department of Psychiatry & Melbourne Health, The University of Melbourne, National Neuroscience Facility, Melbourne, Australia; Narcís Cardoner, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, Carlos III Health Institute, CIBERSAM, Spain and Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Jesús Pujol, MD, MRI Research Unit, CRC Mar, Hospital de Mar, Barcelona, Spain; Pino Alonso, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, Carlos III Health Institute, CIBERSAM, Spain, and Department of Clinical Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Marina López-Solà, PhD, MRI Research Unit, CRC Mar, Hospital de Mar, Barcelona, Spain and Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, USA; Eva Real, MD, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain and Carlos III Health Institute, CIBERSAM, Spain; Oren Contreras-Rodríguez, PhD, Carlos III Health Institute, CIBERSAM, Spain and MRI Research Unit, CRC Mar, Hospital de Mar, Barcelona, Spain; Joan Deus, PhD, MRI Research Unit, CRC Mar, Hospital de Mar, Barcelona, and Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Cinto Segalàs, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, and Carlos III Health Institute, CIBERSAM, Spain; José M. Menchón, MD, PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Bellvitge University Hospital-IDIBELL, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, Carlos III Health Institute, CIBERSAM, Spain, and Department of Clini
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptom dimensions, particularly aggression/checking and sexual/religious, are linked to increased amygdala activation when viewing fearful faces. This suggests specific OCD subtypes involve abnormal fear processing.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- The amygdala's role in fear and anxiety is known, but its function in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) pathophysiology is debated.
- Neuroimaging studies show inconsistent findings, possibly due to OCD's heterogeneity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how OCD symptom dimensions affect amygdala responses.
- To use a validated emotional face-matching paradigm to assess these responses.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study was conducted.
- 67 patients with OCD and 67 matched healthy controls participated.
Main Results:
- Heightened amygdala activation was observed in OCD patients viewing fearful faces.
- This activation correlated significantly with the severity of aggression/checking and sexual/religious symptom dimensions.
- No significant correlations were found for other OCD symptom dimensions.
Conclusions:
- Amygdala functional changes in OCD are specifically influenced by symptom dimensions related to fear processing.
- These findings suggest a link between specific OCD subtypes and amygdala-centric processes, such as abnormal fear processing.
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