Neurocognitive function of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) : A functional MRI study comparing patients with OCD with Normal Controls during Chinese character Stroop task

最近的功能神经成像和神经心理学研究表明，额叶皮质和皮质下结构可能在强迫症的病理生理学中发挥重要作用。为了确定脑功能障碍和认知功能障碍之间的关系，我们使用功能磁共振成像(FMRI)研究了在进行认知任务时强迫症患者大脑的局部变化。31名强迫症患者和19名正常对照参与了这项研究。首先，我们通过几项神经心理测试比较了他们的认知功能。然后，我们在与动作监测功能密切相关的汉字版Stroop任务中对他们进行了fMRI检查。在所有神经心理测试中，两组之间没有显著差异。在功能磁共振成像中，两组均显示相似的激活模式。然而，患者右侧尾状核的激活弱于正常对照组。虽然我们没有发现强迫症的神经心理缺陷，但我们认为强迫症的症状可能与尾状核的异常激活有关。

Recent functional neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies have implicated that frontal cortex and subcortical structures may play a substantial role in the pathophysiology of OCD. To identify the relationship between brain dysfunction and cognitive dysfunction, we examined the regional brain changes in OCD by using functional MRI (fMRI) while a cognitive task is being undertaken. Thirty-one patients with OCD and nineteen normal controls participated in the study. First, we compared their cognitive function by several neuropsychological tests. Then we examined them fMRI during the Chinese character version Stroop task that is strongly related with action-monitoring function. On all the neuropsychological tests, there were no significant differences between the two groups. In fMRI, both the two groups showed similar activation pattern. The patients, however, showed weaker activation than the normal controls in the right caudate nucleus than the normal controls. It was suggested that OC symptoms might be related to abnormal activation in the caudate nucleus, though we were not able to find neuropsychological deficits of OCD.