"Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Linked to Damage in Striatal Circuit Structure in the Brain"

Seoul National University Hospital Identifies Abnormal White Matter Connectivity in Cortico-Striatal Circuit, Core Pathway of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Professor Kwon Junsu, Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital; Professor Kim Mina; and PhD candidate Park Hyungyu, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Seoul National University.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Domestic researchers have for the first time identified structural damage in the 'cortico-striatal circuit,' known as the core brain neural circuit of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

The team led by Professor Kwon Joon-soo of the Department of Psychiatry at Seoul National University Hospital (including Professor Kim Min-ah and Park Hyun-kyu, a doctoral student in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at Seoul National University) announced on the 17th the research results revealing changes in the white matter connecting the cerebral cortex and striatum, as well as microstructural damage in the striatum, using the latest brain imaging of OCD patients.

OCD is a disorder in which specific thoughts, impulses, or scenes repeatedly arise involuntarily, and patients perform certain behaviors repeatedly to relieve the resulting anxiety. The core neural circuit of OCD is known as the cortico-striatal circuit, which is involved in cognitive and behavioral processes.

The 'striatum' is a brain region that receives information from the cerebral cortex and is involved in reward, execution, self-regulation, and motor processing. Dysfunction in the neural circuit composed of the cerebral cortex and striatum has been pointed out as a cause of OCD. However, the abnormal white matter connectivity and microstructural abnormalities in the striatum, which cause the imbalance in the cortico-striatal circuit function, have not been clarified until now.

The research team focused on the white matter connectivity of the cortico-striatal circuit in OCD patients. Using MRI diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of 107 drug-naive OCD patients and 110 healthy controls, the team reconstructed the brain white matter circuits connecting the cerebral cortex and striatum and compared the white matter connectivity of each circuit.

Changes in the Corticostriatal Circuit Observed in Patients with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

As a result, compared to healthy individuals, OCD patients showed decreased connectivity with the orbitofrontal cortex but increased connectivity with the motor cortex and parietal lobe. In other words, the balance of the cortico-striatal circuit is disrupted in OCD patients. This indicates that abnormal white matter connectivity in the cortico-striatal circuit plays an important role in the pathophysiology of OCD.

Additionally, using diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) to observe microstructural changes in the striatum, it was found that the microstructure of the striatum connected to the motor cortex and parietal lobe was reduced in OCD patients. This suggests damage to neurons or tissue in that striatal region compared to healthy individuals.

The research team emphasized that this study is the first to identify distinct abnormalities in cortico-striatal white matter connectivity and microstructural changes in subregions of the striatum in OCD patients.

Professor Kwon stated, "This study is an important result that proves the neural mechanisms previously proposed as hypotheses in OCD research," adding, "It is expected to be used to suggest precise target areas for treatments that directly stimulate the brains of OCD patients, such as neuromodulation."

This study was published in the latest issue of the international SCI journal Molecular Psychiatry (IF=15.99).

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