Atypical oscillatory dynamics during emotional face processing in paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder with MEG

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Psychiatry

Background:

• Children and youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) experience social, emotional, and cognitive challenges beyond core symptoms.
• Understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of these difficulties is crucial for effective interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate whole-brain neurophysiological functional connectivity during emotional face processing in pediatric OCD using magnetoencephalography (MEG).
• To compare functional connectivity networks between children with OCD and typically developing controls, and within groups based on emotional stimuli (angry vs. happy faces).

Main Methods:

• Magnetoencephalography (MEG) was used to record brain activity in 72 participants (36 with OCD, 36 controls), aged 8-17 years.
• Participants completed an implicit emotional face processing task.
• Functional connectivity was analyzed in canonical frequency bands (gamma and beta).

Main Results:

• Children with OCD exhibited increased gamma band functional connectivity when viewing angry faces, indicating atypical perception.
• The OCD group showed greater beta band engagement (top-down processing) for happy vs. angry faces, unlike controls who used bottom-up gamma processing.
• Findings highlight specific oscillatory patterns in neurophysiological connectivity within pediatric OCD.

Conclusions:

• Altered neurophysiological connectivity patterns are present in children with OCD, particularly in emotional face processing.
• The observed over-activation of top-down processing in OCD may relate to cognitive inflexibility.
• These results provide foundational insights into the neurobiology of pediatric OCD and suggest novel intervention targets.