Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 15, 2026
Microstate and Omega Complexity Analyses of the Resting-state Electroencephalography
Published on: June 15, 2018
Distinct electroencephalogram microstate in patients with methamphetamine use disorder and obsessive-compulsive
Rongrong Zhu1, Yang Tian1, Linjun Jiang1
1State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Science and Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Background:
Electroencephalogram (EEG) microstates reflect momentary localized brain activity and may indicate spontaneous fluctuations within large-scale neural networks. Methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) exhibit overlapping compulsive features, however, similarities or differences in whole-brain dynamics on subsecond timescales between patients with MUD and OCD remain unclear.
Methods:
We recruited 127 subjects aged 16 to 55 years, including 45 OCD patients, 44 MUD patients and 39 healthy controls (HCs), and collected resting-state EEG data. The OCD symptoms were assessed using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), and drug craving in MUD was evaluated with the Drug Desire Questionnaire (DDQ).
Results:
Compared to HCs, MUD patients showed reduced time coverage of microstate A. OCD patients exhibited lower time coverage and occurrence of microstate A than MUD patients, alongside altered transition probabilities (reduced B/C/D → A; increased B → D) (all p < 0.05). In OCD, compulsion subscale scores were negatively correlated with B → D transition probability and the mean duration of microstate D, but positively correlated with the occurrence of microstate C (all p < 0.05). For MUD, DDQ desire and intention scores were positively correlated with the occurrence and time coverage of microstate D (all p < 0.05).
Conclusions:
Our findings reveal that distinct EEG microstate patterns in MUD and OCD, shedding light on the underlying neurodynamic and connectivity differences between the two disorders. The relationship between microstate D and clinical symptoms in both disorders further elucidates potential shared neural underpinnings. Microstate C shows potential as a neurophysiological biomarker for OCD.
