Inhibitory control and error processing in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A mega-analysis of task-based fMRI data by the ENIGMA-OCD consortium
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: OBJECTIVE: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic condition in which impaired inhibitory control and excessive error monitoring may contribute to maintenance of obsessions and compulsions. This mega-analysis investigates neural activation during response inhibition and error processing using adult (OCD=563; control=348) and child (OCD=83, control=114) data from the ENIGMA-OCD consortium and the ABCD study (probable OCD=343; control=361). METHODS: Individual participant data was uniformly processed using HALFpipe to extract statistical maps for response inhibition and error processing contrasts. Bayesian multilevel models were used to assess regional and whole-brain effects of OCD, and to examine the association between the OCD clinical profile and task-related activation. RESULTS: Across inhibitory control tasks, both OCD and control participants showed robust activation in regions implicated in response inhibition and error processing. During response inhibition, compared to controls, adults with OCD showed stronger somatomotor cortex activation, while children with OCD showed stronger occipital cortex activation. Children with probable OCD from the ABCD cohort showed weaker activity in the frontoparietal network in the anterior insula/frontal operculum region. During error processing, relative to controls, adults with OCD showed weaker activation in fronto-striatal regions, while children with OCD showed stronger activation in frontoparietal and attention networks. Greater OCD symptom severity was associated with weaker task-related activation in adults and stronger activation in children during response inhibition. CONCLUSION: Case-control differences in brain activation during inhibitory control varied by age group and task contrast. Symptom severity emerged as the main clinical correlate of activation during inhibition, suggesting that inhibitory control deficits in OCD may be both state-dependent and developmentally specific.
Source: Biological Psychiatry
Authors: Nadža Džinalija, Odile A. van den Heuvel, H. Blair Simpson, Iliyan Ivanov, Ana Araújo, Srinivas Balachander, Jan Beucke, Daniel Brandeis, Silvia Brem, Willem Bruin, Jan Buitelaar, Miguel Castelo-Branco, Sunah Choi, Goi Khia Eng, Sophie M.D.D. Fitzsimmons, Lydia Fortea, Miquel A. Fullana, Rosa Grützmann, Bjarne Hansen, Chaim Huijser, Niels T. de Joode, Norbert Kathmann, Christian Kaufmann, Minah Kim, Kathrin Koch, Jun Soo Kwon, Jie Xin Lim, Ignacio Martinez-Zalacain, Jose M. Menchon, Laurens A. van de Mortel, Janardhanan C. Narayanaswamy, Olga Therese Ousdal, Tjardo S. Postma, Daniela Rodriguez-Manrique, Daan van Rooij, Venkataram Shivakumar, Carles Soriano-Mas, Emily R. Stern, Sophia I. Thomopoulos, Anders L. Thorsen, Enric Vilajosana, Susanne Walitza, Lea Waller, Ysbrand D. van der Werf, Guido van Wingen, Stella J. de Wit, Pino Alonso, Isabel Catarina Duarte, Kristen Hagen, Tobias U. Hauser, Taekwan Kim, Gerd Kvale, Y.C.Janardhan Reddy, Cinto Segalàs, Ganesan Venkatasubramanian, Dan J. Stein, Paul M. Thompson, Chris Vriend, Ilya M. Veer
Institutions: Amsterdam Neuroscience, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, Amsterdam UMC Location Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, University of Coimbra, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Universität Hamburg, Karolinska Institutet, MSH Medical School Hamburg – University of Applied Sciences and Medical University, University of Zurich, Heidelberg University, ETH Zurich, University Hospital Zurich, Central Institute of Mental Health, Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich, Leiden University, University of Amsterdam, Radboud University Medical Center, Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging, Donders Centre for Neuroscience, Seoul National University, Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, New York University, Consorci Institut D'Investigacions Biomediques August Pi I Sunyer, Hospital Clínic de Barcelona, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, MSB Medical School Berlin, Haukeland University Hospital, Senter for Krisepsykologi, University of Bergen, Levvel, Seoul National University Hospital, Institut für Diagnostische und Interventionelle Neuroradiologie, Technical University of Munich, Hanyang University Seoul Hospital, Nanyang Technological University, Bellvitge University Hospital, Institut d'Investigació Biomédica de Bellvitge, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Universitat de Barcelona, Barwon Health, Deakin University, Utrecht University, University of Southern California, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Molde Hospital, University College London, University of Tübingen, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, South African Medical Research Council, University of Cape Town, Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $5,489
Funders: National Science Foundation, Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, International OCD Foundation, Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Korea Brain Research Institute, European Commission, National Research Foundation, South African Medical Research Council, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek, National Research Foundation of Korea, Hartmann Müller-Stiftung für Medizinische Forschung, The Wellcome Trust DBT India Alliance, Ministry of Science and ICT, South Korea, National Institutes of Health, Medical Research Council, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Seventh Framework Programme, Helse Vest Regionalt Helseføretak, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse
Awards: Neurobiology of sensory phenomena in obsessive-compulsive disorder, G1383283855, G160381221, Neuroimaging of cognitive flexibility and action monitoring in paediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), G2943778841, Biomarcadores multi-ómicos periféricos predictores de la evolución a largo plazo del Trastorno Obsesivo-Compulsivo: la cohorte TOC Barcelona (OCD-BC), Descifrando como el sistema inmune controla a las células cancerosas, G3391521992, G3400087829, G3648511954, Translational Adolescent and Childhood Therapeutic Interventions in Compulsive Syndromes, Neuromodulação volitiva como uma potencial abordagem terapêutica na POC, Structural & functional connectivity of hippocampus in Schizophrenia: evaluation of neuroimmunological & neurotrophic factors interactions using diffusion tensor imaging & functional magnetic resonance imaging studies., G5892210965, G6368058359, The effects of ondansetron on neural systems and symptoms associated with sensory phenomena, G6542976638, G784673269, G8241406158, G880118091, G9000855797, G9000855887, 9/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT U MICHIGAN, 20/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT VCU, 3/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT U MINNESOTA, 4/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT FIU, 7/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT YALE, 17/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT UCLA, 15/21 ABCD-USA Consortium: Research Project Site at LIBR, 16/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER, MEGA-OCD: A Global Data-Driven Initiative to Discover Biosignatures of OCD, 8/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT CHLA, ABCD-USA Consortium: Coordinating Center, 6/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT OHSU, 10/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT SRI, 12/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT U PITTSBURGH, 19/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT UVM, 1/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT U UTAH, 11/21 ABCD-USA Consortium: Research Project Site at UWM, ABCD-USA Consortium: Data Analysis, Informatics and Resource Center, 21/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT WUSTL, 13/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT MUSC, 5/21 ABCD-USA Consortium: Research Project Site at UC San Diego, 18/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, 2/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: RESEARCH PROJECT SITE AT UMB, 14/21 ABCD-USA Consortium: Research Project Site at CU Boulder
OpenAlex ID: W7218793684