Cerebellar volume deficits in medication-naïve obsessive compulsive disorder

Abstract

Even though conventional neurobiological models of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) commonly demonstrate abnormalities involving fronto-striatal circuits, there is emerging evidence regarding the role of posterior brain structures such as cerebellum. In this study, we examined the cerebellar regional volume in a large sample of medication-naïve OCD patients compared to matched healthy controls (HC). In 49 medication naïve right handed OCD patients and 39 age and sex matched HC, sub-region wise volume of cerebellum was extracted from the T1 weighted images using Spatially Unbiased Infra tentorial Template (SUIT) toolbox and compared using hypothesis driven, region of interest approach after clinical assessment with standard scales. After controlling for age, sex and ICV, the subjects with OCD had significantly smaller cerebellum compared to HC, especially in the posterior lobe sub-regions - lobule VI and left crus 1. This study gives preliminary evidence for region specific cerebellar volumetric deficits in the pathophysiological of OCD. Regional cerebellar volume deficits conform to the abnormal connectivity of cerebellum to specific cortical regions and it is indicative of involvement of regions outside the conventional fronto-striatal circuitry. This might be important in the context of cognitive deficits seen in OCD.