Common limbic and frontal-striatal disturbances in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder and hypochondriasis

Common limbic and frontal-striatal disturbances in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder and hypochondriasis.  O. A. van den Heuvel1,2*, D. Mataix-Cols3, G. Zwitser2, D. C. Cath4, Y. D. van der Werf2,5, H. J. Groenewegen2, A. J. L. M. van Balkom1,6 and D. J. Veltman1.  Retrieved from Pro-Quest.

This research conducted in this article was to see if there were structural similarities in patients with three different disorders.  The criteria for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder are up for a change in the DSM-5. The idea of changing the disorder into a spectrum of disorders sparked an interest in the researchers of this article.  Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is characterized by obsessions and or compulsions that interfere with everyday functioning.  These obsessions and compulsions can range from excessive hand washing to organizing every item by a certain criteria.  Fifty participants with diagnosis of one of the following: OCD, Panic Disorder, or hypochondriasis.  The participants only were diagnosed and met the criteria of one disorder.  Participants were placed in a fMRI for testing.  The participants were given a self-paced version of the Tower of London.  They were asked for the minimal number of moves that it would take to get from the starting move to the desired configuration.  A maximum of 30 seconds for each trial was allowed. Next, the participants rated his/her distress using a 100 point scale answering the question ‘how distressed do you feel at this moment?’ This task was practiced a week before scanning and right before the data collection so the participants understood the procedure of the task.  Patients had higher state anxiety scores than the control group.  Decreased recruitment of task related brain regions i.e. globus pallidus and thalamus, were associated with patients over control group. Differences were found in performance areas between the groups.  The control groups did not show and correlation between state anxiety and task-related blood oxygen level-dependent responses.