Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder01:28

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

130
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...
130
Personality Disorders: Dependent and Obsessive-Compulsive01:24

Personality Disorders: Dependent and Obsessive-Compulsive

41
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.
 Dependent Personality Disorder
Dependent personality disorder is characterized by an excessive reliance on others to manage various aspects of life. Individuals with this disorder often struggle...
41
Horney's Sociocultural Approach01:27

Horney's Sociocultural Approach

519
Karen Horney's psychoanalytic theories emphasize the potential for self-realization and the importance of addressing social and cultural, rather than biological, factors in personality development. She challenged traditional Freudian views, particularly Freud's concept of "penis envy," which she argued stemmed from cultural influences rather than inherent biological differences. Horney believed that any sense of inferiority in women was a result of societal conditioning, such as...
519
Personality Disorders: Narcissistic and Avoidant01:26

Personality Disorders: Narcissistic and Avoidant

48
Narcissistic and avoidant personality traits represent two contrasting patterns of behavior that significantly influence social interactions and self-perception. While individuals with narcissistic disorder seek admiration and validation, individuals with avoidant personality disorder withdraw due to fear of judgment.
Characteristics of Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Narcissistic individuals exhibit an inflated sense of self-importance and an excessive need for admiration. They are often...
48
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood03:34

Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood

43.4K
Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships. 
43.4K
Social Anxiety Disorder01:28

Social Anxiety Disorder

34
Social anxiety disorder, also known as social phobia, is characterized by an intense fear of social situations where one might face humiliation, rejection, embarrassment, or negative evaluation. This disorder leads individuals to avoid activities like casual conversations, public speaking, or seemingly simple tasks such as eating, signing documents, or swimming, in public settings. Its impact extends beyond discomfort, often significantly interfering with daily functioning and quality of life.
34

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Bipolar Disorder Psychosis Risk Predicts Cue Discrimination on the AX-Continuous Performance Task Paradigm.

Bipolar disorders·2026
Same author

Renewal and reacquisition of substance-associated relapse.

Frontiers in psychology·2026
Same author

Depression symptoms relate to altered brain connectivity and behavioral responses during self-referential judgments.

Cognitive, affective & behavioral neuroscience·2026
Same author

Elevated pre-supplementary motor area activity during reward expectancy: An impulsivity-related neural marker of vulnerability to bipolar and externalizing disorders.

Molecular psychiatry·2026
Same author

Neurofeedback interventions for obsessive-compulsive and related disorders: Current evidence and future directions.

Journal of psychiatric research·2026
Same author

A novel approach-avoidance task to study decision making under outcome uncertainty.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2026

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 4, 2025

Signal Attenuation as a Rat Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
09:29

Signal Attenuation as a Rat Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Published on: January 9, 2015

15.5K

Specific Patterns of Endogenous Functional Connectivity Are Associated With Harm Avoidance in Obsessive-Compulsive

Merage Ghane1, Lucas Trambaiolli2, Michele A Bertocci1

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Biological Psychiatry
|February 9, 2024
PubMed
Summary

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is linked to persistent harm avoidance (HA). Brain imaging reveals that stronger inverse connectivity between the right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and right basolateral amygdala predicts greater HA, offering potential new treatment targets.

Keywords:
BLAHarm avoidanceOCDPersistent avoidanceResting-state functional connectivitydACC

More Related Videos

Developing Neuroimaging Phenotypes of the Default Mode Network in PTSD: Integrating the Resting State, Working Memory, and Structural Connectivity
10:43

Developing Neuroimaging Phenotypes of the Default Mode Network in PTSD: Integrating the Resting State, Working Memory, and Structural Connectivity

Published on: July 1, 2014

15.1K
Real-time fMRI Biofeedback Targeting the Orbitofrontal Cortex for Contamination Anxiety
10:51

Real-time fMRI Biofeedback Targeting the Orbitofrontal Cortex for Contamination Anxiety

Published on: January 20, 2012

21.3K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jul 4, 2025

Signal Attenuation as a Rat Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
09:29

Signal Attenuation as a Rat Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Published on: January 9, 2015

15.5K
Developing Neuroimaging Phenotypes of the Default Mode Network in PTSD: Integrating the Resting State, Working Memory, and Structural Connectivity
10:43

Developing Neuroimaging Phenotypes of the Default Mode Network in PTSD: Integrating the Resting State, Working Memory, and Structural Connectivity

Published on: July 1, 2014

15.1K
Real-time fMRI Biofeedback Targeting the Orbitofrontal Cortex for Contamination Anxiety
10:51

Real-time fMRI Biofeedback Targeting the Orbitofrontal Cortex for Contamination Anxiety

Published on: January 20, 2012

21.3K

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Brain Imaging

Background:

  • Individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) exhibit persistent avoidance behaviors, even without apparent threats, impacting quality of life.
  • Existing research in rodents and nonhuman primates suggests a specific brain network involved in persistent avoidance.
  • Novel intervention targets are needed for OCD, prompting investigation into brain-behavior relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test if specific brain network connections predict harm avoidance (HA), a trait measure of persistent avoidance relevant to OCD.
  • To determine if HA, rather than an OCD diagnosis, is associated with altered functional connectivity.
  • To assess the robustness of findings to comorbid symptoms and their replicability in an independent sample.

Main Methods:

  • Resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) was employed.
  • Cross-validated elastic net was used for feature selection to identify predictive brain connections.
  • Poisson generalized linear models analyzed the relationship between connectivity and HA in training (n=73) and testing (n=30) subsamples.

Main Results:

  • Greater harm avoidance (HA) was associated with stronger inverse connectivity between the right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and right basolateral amygdala (BLA).
  • Stronger positive connectivity between the right ventral anterior insula and left ventral striatum also correlated with greater HA.
  • The dACC-BLA connectivity finding was robust to comorbidities and medication and replicated in the independent testing subsample, suggesting trait specificity.

Conclusions:

  • Stronger inverse dACC-BLA connectivity is a reliable neural correlate of persistent harm avoidance (HA) across healthy individuals and those with OCD.
  • These findings support the relevance of a conserved, cross-species persistent avoidance network to OCD.
  • The identified brain-behavior association has implications for developing precision-based interventions and treatments for OCD.