Alteration of Functional Connectivity in OCD by Resting State fMRI

Alteration of Functional Connectivity in OCD by Resting State fMRI

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder in which a person repeated a particular thought or feels. The domain of beliefs and guilt predicted OCD symptoms. Although there were some neuroimaging studies investigating OCD symptoms, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) study investigating intra-network functional connectivity associated with guilt for OCD is not reported yet. Therefore, in the current study, we assessed the differences between intra-network functional connectivity of healthy control group and OCD group using independent component analysis (ICA) method. In addition, we also aimed to investigate the correlation between changed functional connectivity and guilt score in OCD. Total 86 participants, which consisted of 42 healthy control volunteers and 44 OCD patients, acquired rs-fMRI data using the 3T MRI. After preprocessing the fMRI data, a functional connectivity was used for group independent component analysis. The results showed that OCD patients had higher score in emotion state in beliefs and lower functional connectivity in fronto-parietal network (FPN) than control group. A decrease of functional connectivity in FPN was negatively correlated with feelings of guilt in OCD. Our results suggest excessive increase in guilt negatively affect to process emotional state and behavior or cognitive processing by influencing intrinsic brain activity.