Aberrant functional connectivity density in patients with treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder: a pilot...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Functional connectivity (FC) alterations are noted in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
• Previous research primarily focused on the strength of FC, with limited investigation into the number of functional connections.
• The number of functional connections, assessed via FC density (FCD), is a crucial index for understanding aberrant FC.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate alterations in the number of functional connections in patients with treatment-refractory OCD (TROCD).
• To utilize FCD mapping and the FCD index to explore these alterations.

Main Methods:

• Recruited twenty patients with TROCD and twenty patients with OCD in clinical remission.
• Employed global FCD (gFCD) analysis to compare functional connection differences between the two groups.

Main Results:

• Patients with TROCD exhibited lower gFCD in the left middle temporal gyrus compared to patients with remitted OCD.
• This finding indicates that reduced information processing capacity in this region may be significant in TROCD.

Conclusions:

• The left middle temporal gyrus is integral to emotional and attentional processing circuits.
• Diminished information processing in this area could be a key factor in TROCD.
• Further research is warranted to validate these findings.