Brain activation in paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder during tasks of inhibitory control
Year: 2008
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: BACKGROUND: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may be related to a dysfunction in frontostriatal pathways mediating inhibitory control. However, no functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study has tested this in children. AIMS: To test whether adolescents with OCD in partial remission would show abnormal frontostriatal brain activation during tasks of inhibition. METHOD: Event-related fMRI was used to compare brain activation in 10 adolescent boys with OCD with that of 9 matched controls during three different tasks of inhibitory control. RESULTS: During a 'stop' task, participants with OCD showed reduced activation in right orbitofrontal cortex, thalamus and basal ganglia; inhibition failure elicited mesial frontal underactivation. Task switching and interference inhibition were associated with attenuated activation in frontal, temporoparietal and cerebellar regions. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings support the hypothesis that paediatric OCD is characterised by a dysregulation of frontostriatothalamic brain regions necessary for motor inhibition, and also demonstrate dysfunction of temporoparietal and frontocerebellar attention networks during more cognitive forms of inhibition.
Institution: King's College London
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funder: Yale University
OpenAlex ID: W2085564649