Frontoparietal and salience network alterations in obsessive–compulsive disorder: insights from independent component...

Resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) studies commonly report alterations in 3 core networks in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) — the frontoparietal network, the default mode network and the salience network — defined by functionally connected infraslow oscillations in ongoing brain activity. However, most of these studies observed static functional connectivity in the brains of patients with OCD.

To investigate dynamic functional connectivity alterations and widen the evidence base toward the triple network model in OCD, we performed group-based independent component and sliding time window analyses in 49 patients with OCD and 41 healthy controls.

The traditional independent component analysis showed alterations in the left frontoparietal network as well as between the left and right frontoparietal networks in patients with OCD compared with healthy controls. For dynamic functional connectivity, the sliding time window approach revealed peak dysconnectivity between the left and right frontoparietal networks and between the left frontoparietal network and the salience network.

The number of independent components, noise in the resting-state fMRI images, the heterogeneity of the OCD sample, and comorbidities and medication status in the patients could have biased the results.

Disrupted modulation of these intrinsic brain networks may contribute to the pathophysiology of OCD.