Altered brain activity and connectivity in adolescent obsessive-compulsive disorder and their correlations with...

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in adolescents exhibits distinct patterns of brain functional alterations compared to adults and may be more susceptible to the influences of perceived parental rearing patterns. However, the specific neural correlations underlying the link between perceived parental rearing patterns and adolescent OCD remain unclear. In this exploratory study, thirty adolescents with OCD and thirty demographically matched healthy controls were recruited and underwent clinical interview and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scans to assess functional alterations and their potential correlations with perceived parental rearing patterns. Regional homogeneity (ReHo) analysis revealed decreased ReHo in the parieto-occipital regions and increased ReHo in the right temporal lobe in the OCD group. Seed-based resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) analysis using ReHo-defined seeds revealed hypoconnectivity between the left precuneus and several frontal and parietal regions. These functional alterations primarily localized to the dorsal visual processing stream and cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical circuits, suggesting potential disruptions in related visuospatial processing, spatial working memory, reward processing, and executive functions. Correlation analysis indicated negative correlations between decreased rsFC and paternal rejection and overprotection subscales, with similar but weaker trends for maternal rejection. Furthermore, exploratory mediation analysis suggested that decreased rsFC strength is linked to the statistical correlation between perceived parental rejection and symptom severity. This study preliminarily reveals the potential correlations between neurobiological measures and environmental factors in adolescent OCD, and highlights the need for further research with larger cohorts.