Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Apr 30:298:111046.
doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2020.111046. Epub 2020 Feb 11.

Neural correlates of symptom severity in obsessive-compulsive disorder using magnetization transfer and diffusion tensor imaging

Suzan Maleki  1 , Yann Chye  1 , Xiaoliu Zhang  1 , Linden Parkes  2 , Samuel R Chamberlain  3 , Leonardo F Fontenelle  4 , Leah Braganza  1 , George Youssef  5 , Valentina Lorenzetti  6 , Ben J Harrison  7 , Murat Yücel  1 , Chao Suo  8
Affiliations

Neural correlates of symptom severity in obsessive-compulsive disorder using magnetization transfer and diffusion tensor imaging

Suzan Maleki et al. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. .

Abstract

Recent neuroimaging studies in OCD have reported structural alterations in the brain, not limited to frontostriatal regions. While Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) is typically used to interrogate WM microstructure in OCD, additional imaging metric, such as Magnetization Transfer Imaging (MTI), allows for further identification of subtle but important structural changes across both GM and WM. In this study, both MTI and DTI were utilised to investigate the structural integrity of the brain, in OCD in relation to healthy controls. 38 adult OCD patients were recruited, along with 41 age- and gender-matched controls. Structural T1, MTI and DTI data were collected. Case-control differences in Magnetization Transfer Ratio (MTR) and DTI metrics (FA, MD) were examined, along with MTR/DTI-related associations with symptom severity in patients. No significant group differences were found across MTR, FA, and MD. However, OCD symptom severity was positively correlated with MTR in a distributed network of brain regions, including the striatum, cingulate, orbitofrontal area and insula. Within the same regions, OCD symptoms were also positively correlated with FA in WM, and negatively correlated with MD in GM. These results indicate a greater degree of myelination in certain cortical and subcortical regions in the more severe cases of OCD.

Keywords: DTI; Diffusion tensor imaging; MTI; Magnetization transfer imaging; OCD; Obsessive-Compulsive disorder.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Positive Correlation between MTR and OCI-R scores in the 36 OCD patients. The starting volume is -40 with 5 slice-spacing increments in Z space and ending in volume +45.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(A) Positive correlation of MTR with OCI_R scores in WM cluster in OCD group. The mean of MTR in healthy controls in the same cluster is shown in green color for display purpose only. (B) Axial, coronal, and sagittal view of brain with WM cluster in orange, and GM cluster in light blue in the background. (C) FA and RD correlations with OCI_R scores in WM cluster in OCD group.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Positive correlation of MTR with OCI_R scores in GM cluster in OCD population. The MTR mean of healthy controls is shown in green color only for display purpose. (B) Axial, coronal, and sagittal view of brain with GM cluster in orange color and WM cluster in light blue in background. (C) Negative correlation of MD with OCI_R scores in GM cluster in OCD cohort.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Abramowitz JS, Deacon BJ, Olatunji BO, Wheaton MG, Berman NC, Losardo D, Timpano KR, McGrath PB, Riemann BC, Adams T, Björgvinsson T, et al. Assessment of Obsessive-Compulsive Symptom Dimensions: Development and Evaluation of the Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. Psychol Assess. 2010;22:180–98. doi: 10.1037/a0018260. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Alexander AL, Hurley SA, Samsonov AA, Adluru N, Pasha A, Mossahebi P, Tromp DPM, Zakszewski E, Field AS, Hosseinbor AP, Mossahebi P, et al. Characterization of cerebral white matter properties using quantitative magnetic resonance imaging stains. Brain Connect. 2011;1:423–46. doi: 10.1089/brain.2011.0071.Characterization. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anticevic A, Hu S, Zhang S, Savic A, Billingslea E, Wasylink S, Repovs G, Cole MW, Bednarski S, Krystal JH, Bloch MH, et al. Global resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging analysis identifies frontal cortex, striatal, and cerebellar dysconnectivity in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Biol Psychiatry. 2014;75:595–605. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2013.10.021. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. APA. American Journal of Psychiatry. 5th ed. 2013. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. - DOI
    1. Armstrong CL, Traipe E, Hunter JV, Haselgrove JC, Ledakis GE, Tallent EM, Shera D, Van Buchem MA. Age-related, regional, hemispheric, and medial-lateral differences in myelin integrity in vivo in the normal adult brain. Am J Neuroradiol. 2004;25:977–84. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms