BACKGROUND There is evidence to suggest that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with structural abnormalities in cortico-striato-thalamic circuits, yet the extent of white matter abnormalities is not well established. In this study, we used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to examine white matter integrity in specific regions of interest (ROIs) in patients with OCD. METHODS Patie...

BACKGROUND Impaired language processing is one of the most replicated findings in functional brain studies of schizophrenia (SCH). This is demonstrated by reduced activations in left prefrontal language areas (i.e., BA44/45, the inferior frontal gyrus, IFG) presented as decreased language lateralization. This finding was documented both in chronic as well as in first-episode SCH patients, argui...

Memory deficits in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have been frequently reported but are not sufficiently accounted for by cognitive models of OCD. The aim of the study was to identify cognitive mechanisms that might be able to explain memory deficits in OCD. We hypothesized that a self-conscious meta-cognitive style might be responsible for reduced memory performance in OCD. ...

There is constant interest in possible relations between obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and eating disorders, particularly anorexia nervosa (AN). The comorbidity rate for OCD and AN is reported to be between 10% and even 40%. There is also an increased incidence of prior AN in OCD patients and high number of anorectic patients with obsessional premorbid personality. Similarities between AN...

Few medications are effective in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). As monotherapy, only potent serotonin (5-HT) reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) consistently exert an intrinsic therapeutic action in OCD. Their use in OCD, however, differs from their use in depression. This paper first reviews the evidence supporting the key role of 5-HT as a pivotal neurotransmitter in the anti-OCD respon...

We assessed correlates of obsessive-compulsive (OCPD), schizotypal (SPD) and borderline (BPD) personality disorders in 110 obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients. We found OCD patients with OCPD (20.9%) to exhibit higher rates of hoarding and bipolar disorders, increased severity of hoarding and symmetry, lower prevalence of unacceptable thoughts involving sex and religion and less non-pl...

The purpose of this research was to investigate the specificity of purported relations between symptoms of eating disorders (ED) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Whereas most research has focused on diagnostic comorbidity or between-groups analyses, this study took a dimensional approach to investigate specific relations among symptoms of anorexia, bulimia, and OCD, as well as panic, de...

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a seriously impairing psychiatric condition that affects 1%-3% of youth. Investigating the quality of life (QOL) is an important issue for treatment planning of this disorder, as targeting symptoms without taking it into account may bias assessment and prognosis when the patient presents with reduced symptoms that do not correspond to improved QOL. However...

UNLABELLED OBJECTIVE The study aimed to investigate phenomenology, psychiatric comorbidity, and family history of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in a clinical sample of normally developing preschool children with OCD. METHOD Subjects in this study were recruited from a clinical sample of preschool children (under 72 months of age) who were referred to a university clinic. Subjects wit...

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a debilitating neuropsychiatric condition estimated to afflict 1-3% of the world population. The estimated financial impact in the treatment and management of OCD is in the billions of dollars annually in the US alone. At present there is a marked lack of evidence on the specific causes of OCD. Current hypotheses largely focus on the serotonin (5-HT) syste...