Neuroimaging and frontal-subcortical circuitry in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Abstract

OCD symptoms are mediated by hyperactivity in orbitofrontal-subcortical circuits, perhaps due to an imbalance of tone between direct and indirect striato-pallidal pathways. We present a model which describes how frontal-subcortical brain circuitry may mediate OCD symptomatology, and suggest a hypothesis for how successful treatments may ameliorate symptoms, via their effects on circuit activity.