Individual differences in cerebral metabolic patterns during pharmacotherapy in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a...

A multiple regression/discriminant analysis of positron emission tomographic cerebral metabolic (rCMRglc) data in 10 obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients before and during pharmacotherapy was carried out to see if rCMRglc interdependencies distinguished OCD patients from controls. Before therapy, a discriminant function reflecting parietal, sensorimotor, and midbrain rCMRglc interdependencies correctly classified eight (80%) of the 10 patients as OCD; after therapy, six (70%) were classified as controls, most of whom were responders. Before therapy, rCMRglc interdependencies involving basal ganglia, thalamus, limbic, and sensory and association cortical regions distinguished 67% of patients who clinically responded to drug (RESP, n = 6) and 75% of patients who did not (NRESP, n = 4) from controls. After therapy, all RESP were classified as controls; classification of NRESP remained unchanged. The results suggest the conjunctive utility of this method to assess individual differences in rCMRglc during pharmacotherapy, and to explore the neurobiology of OCD.