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Normal caudate nucleus in obsessive-compulsive disorder assessed by quantitative neuroimaging
E H Aylward1, G J Harris, R Hoehn-Saric
1Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md, USA.
Archives of General Psychiatry
|July 1, 1996
Summary
This study found no structural or functional abnormalities in the caudate nucleus of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Neuroimaging did not reveal consistent differences, suggesting OCD
Area of Science:
- Neuroimaging
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is theorized to involve caudate nucleus dysfunction.
- Prior neuroimaging studies have yielded inconsistent findings regarding structural or functional abnormalities in the caudate nucleus of OCD patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate structural abnormalities of the caudate nucleus and putamen in adult-onset OCD using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
- To quantitatively review functional neuroimaging studies to assess caudate nucleus function (metabolism or blood flow) in OCD.
Main Methods:
- Structural MRI was used to examine caudate nucleus and putamen volumes in 24 OCD patients and 21 controls.
- A meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging studies compared caudate nucleus activity in OCD patients versus controls.
Main Results:
- No significant differences in structural basal ganglia measures or ventricular enlargement were found between OCD patients and controls.
- Meta-analysis of functional neuroimaging literature did not reveal consistent abnormalities in the caudate nucleus of OCD patients.
Conclusions:
- The study did not find evidence for structural abnormalities of the caudate nucleus in OCD patients.
- Limited support for relative caudate metabolic or perfusion dysfunction was found, though increased frontal cortex activity was noted.
- Heterogeneity of OCD may explain inconsistent findings across studies, with potential differences in patients with neurological signs like tics.