Functional neuroimaging of avoidance habits in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The purpose of this study was to determine the neural correlates of excessive habit formation in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The authors aimed to test for neurobiological convergence with the known pathophysiology of OCD and to infer, based on abnormalities in brain activation, whether these habits arise from dysfunction in the goal-directed or habit system.

Method

Thirty-seven OCD patients and 33 healthy comparison subjects learned to avoid shocks while undergoing a functional MRI scan. Following four blocks of training, the authors tested whether the avoidance response had become a habit by removing the threat of shock and measuring continued avoidance. Task-related differences in brain activity in three regions of interest (the caudate, the putamen, and

SUBMITTER: Gillan CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4910868 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature