Individualized functional connectome abnormalities obtained using two normative model unveil neurophysiological...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Psychiatry
• Computational Biology

Background:

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) presents significant heterogeneity among patients.
• Identifying neurophysiological subtypes is crucial for personalized diagnosis and treatment strategies in OCD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify potential OCD subtypes using individualized functional connectome abnormalities.
• To explore the neurophysiological heterogeneity underlying OCD.

Main Methods:

• Recruited 99 OCD patients and 104 healthy controls (HCs).
• Utilized normative models of functional connectivity strength (FCS) to derive individualized functional connectome abnormalities.
• Employed clustering techniques to identify OCD subtypes based on FCS patterns.
• Conducted sensitivity analyses to ensure reproducibility.

Main Results:

• Observed significant intersubject heterogeneity in individualized functional connectome abnormalities among OCD patients.
• Identified two distinct OCD subtypes with differing patterns of FCS abnormalities compared to HCs.
• Subtype 1 showed decreased FCS in frontal gyrus, insula, hippocampus, and precentral/postcentral gyrus.
• Subtype 2 exhibited increased FCS in widespread brain regions.
• The identified subtypes differed significantly in age of onset.
• No significant differences were found when all OCD patients were analyzed as a single group.

Conclusions:

• The study successfully identified two novel neurophysiological subtypes of OCD.
• These subtypes exhibit distinct patterns of functional brain connectivity and age of onset.
• Findings contribute to a refined understanding of OCD taxonomy and its underlying neurophysiological heterogeneity.
• The identified subtypes hold potential for guiding personalized treatment strategies in OCD.