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Related Concept Videos

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder01:28

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Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health condition characterized by recurrent obsessions, compulsions, or both, which consume significant time and interfere with daily functioning. Obsessions involve persistent, intrusive, and unwanted thoughts, images, or urges that evoke anxiety. Common examples include irrational fears of contamination or harm. Compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts performed to reduce the anxiety caused by obsessions. For instance, individuals...
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Dependent personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder are two separate psychological conditions that influence behavior, relationships, and overall life functioning. Though both involve maladaptive behaviors, their core characteristics and motivations differ significantly.
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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 27, 2026

Signal Attenuation as a Rat Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
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Compulsivity in obsessive-compulsive disorder and addictions.

Martijn Figee1, Tommy Pattij2, Ingo Willuhn3

  • 1Academic Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

European Neuropsychopharmacology : the Journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
|January 18, 2016
PubMed
Summary

Compulsivity, seen in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and addictions, involves impaired brain circuits. Understanding this overlap can guide new treatments for behavioral and substance use disorders.

Keywords:
AddictionBehavioral addictionFrontostriatal networkObsessive–compulsive disorderRDoCSubstance-use

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Compulsive behaviors, characterized by urges and lack of control, are central to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and addiction.
  • OCD is conceptually linked to behavioral addictions like pathological gambling and compulsive eating due to shared compulsivity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the neurobiological similarities between compulsivity in substance-use disorders, OCD, and behavioral addictions.
  • To validate the construct of compulsivity for potential adoption within the Research Domain Criteria (RDoC).

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing neurobiological data on compulsivity across different disorders.
  • Analysis of shared neural mechanisms and circuits implicated in compulsive behaviors.

Main Results:

  • Compulsivity in OCD and addictions is associated with impaired reward/punishment processing and altered dopamine release in the ventral striatum.
  • Evidence points to negative reinforcement in limbic systems, cognitive inflexibility due to diminished serotonergic prefrontal control, and habitual responding linked to frontostriatal imbalances.
  • Abnormalities in frontostriatal circuits are identified as key features of compulsivity.

Conclusions:

  • Compulsivity shares common neurobiological underpinnings across OCD and addictions, supporting its trans-diagnostic relevance.
  • Dysfunction in shared brain circuits offers promising targets for neuromodulation and other interventions.
  • The concept of compulsivity aligns with multiple RDoC constructs, facilitating the identification of prevention and treatment targets.