Functional and biochemical alterations of the medial frontal cortex in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Abstract

CONTEXT: The medial frontal cortex (MFC), including the dorsal anterior cingulate and the supplementary motor area, is critical for adaptive and inhibitory control of behavior. Abnormally high MFC activity has been a consistent finding in functional neuroimaging studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the precise regions and the neural alterations associated with this abnormality remain unclear. OBJECTIVE: To examine the functional and biochemical properties of the MFC in patients with OCD. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study combining volume-localized proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy and functional magnetic resonance imaging with a task encompassing inhibitory control proce..