Altered Global Brain Functional Connectivity in Drug-Naive Patients With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Guangcheng Cui,Ru Yang,Chengchong Li,Xiaoping Wang,Zhaoxi Zhong,Yunhui Chen,Wenbin Guo,Cuicui Jia,Ping Li,Zhenghai Sun,Yuhua Wang,Hongsheng Cui,Xin Meng,Yangpan Ou,Dan Lv

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00098

Abstract

Abnormal functional connectivity (FC) within discrete brain networks is involved in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with inconsistent results. In the present study, we investigated the FC patterns of 40 drug-naive patients with OCD and 38 healthy controls (HCs) through an unbiased voxel-wise global brain FC (GFC) analysis at rest. Compared with HCs, patients with OCD showed decreased GFC within the default mode network (DMN) (i.e., left posterior cingulate cortex/lingual gyrus) and sensorimotor network (i.e., left precentral gyrus/postcentral gyrus) and increased GFC within the executive control network (ECN) (i.e., left dorsal lateral prefrontal cortex and left inferior parietal lobule). Receiver operating characteristic curve analyses further indicated that the altered GFC values within the DMN, ECN, and sensorimotor network may be used as neuroimaging markers to differentiate patients with OCD from HCs. These findings indicated the aberrant FC patterns of the DMN, ECN, and sensorimotor network associated with the pathophysiology of OCD and provided new insights into the changes in brain organization function in OCD.

Highlights

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common and chronic psychiatric disorder involving intrusive, unwanted thoughts, and/or repetitive behavior, anxiety, and social dysfunction
functional connectivity (FC) within and between the default mode network (DMN), executive control network (ECN), and salience network (SN) was reported to be altered in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and dysfunction of the triple networks may be related to obsessive thoughts and/or compulsive behavior in OCD [2]
The primary results showed that patients with OCD exhibited decreased global brain FC (GFC) in the region within the DMN and increased GFC in the regions within the ECN, which were consistent with our hypothesis

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common and chronic psychiatric disorder involving intrusive, unwanted thoughts, and/or repetitive behavior, anxiety, and social dysfunction. FC within and between the DMN, ECN, and SN was reported to be altered in patients with OCD, and dysfunction of the triple networks may be related to obsessive thoughts and/or compulsive behavior in OCD [2]. Considerable neuroimaging studies have observed altered FC and/or regional activity in brain regions within the DMN, ECN, and SN with inconsistent results. Another important factor may be that numerous neuroimaging studies have concentrated on FC between brain regions of an appointed network rather than using a whole brain assessment [18]. On the basis of the aforementioned studies, we hypothesized that patients with OCD would show altered GFC in some brain regions, peculiarly in brain regions of the DMN, ECN, and SN. We hypothesized that these alterations would be related to clinical variables in OCD

Participants

DISCUSSION

ETHICS STATEMENT