Psychiatry Investig.  2017 May;14(3):333-343. 10.4306/pi.2017.14.3.333.

Executive Dysfunction in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Anterior Cingulate-Based Resting State Functional Connectivity

• Yun JY
• Jang JH
• Jung WH
• Shin NY
• Kim SN
• Hwang JY
• Kwon JS

• KMID: 2378649
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4306/pi.2017.14.3.333

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
Executive dysfunction might be an important determinant for response to pharmacotherapy in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and could be sustained independently of symptom relief. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been indicated as a potential neural correlate of executive functioning in OCD. The present study examined the brain-executive function relationships in OCD from the ACC-based resting state functional connectivity networks (rs-FCNs), which reflect information processing mechanisms during task performance.
METHODS
For a total of 58 subjects [OCD, n=24; healthy controls (HCs), n=34], four subdomains of executive functioning were measured using the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (RCFT), the Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT), the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), and the Trail Making Test part B (TMT-B). To probe for differential patterns of the brain-cognition relationship in OCD compared to HC, the ACC-centered rs-FCN were calculated using five seed regions systemically placed throughout the ACC.
RESULTS
Significant differences between the OCD group and the HCs with respect to the WCST perseverative errors, SCWT interference scores, and TMT-B reaction times (p<0.05) were observed. Moreover, significant interactions between diagnosis×dorsal ACC [S3]-based rs-FCN strength in the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for RCFT organization summary scores as well as between diagnosis×perigenual ACC [S7]-based rs-FCN strength in the left frontal eye field for SCWT color-word interference scores were unveiled.
CONCLUSION
These network-based neural foundations for executive dysfunction in OCD could become a potential target of future treatment, which could improve global domains of functioning broader than symptomatic relief.

Keyword

Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Executive function; Anterior cingulate cortex; Resting state functional connectivity network

MeSH Terms

Automatic Data Processing
Drug Therapy
Executive Function
Foundations
Frontal Lobe
Gyrus Cinguli
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder*
Prefrontal Cortex
Reaction Time
Task Performance and Analysis
Trail Making Test
Wisconsin