Alterations of regional spontaneous brain activity in obsessive-compulsive disorders: A meta-analysis

Huayun Li; Yihe Wang; Hongyu Xi; Jianxin Zhang; Mengqi Zhao; Xize Jia

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.07.036

Alterations of regional spontaneous brain activity in obsessive-compulsive disorders: A meta-analysis

J Psychiatr Res. 2023 Sep:165:325-335. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.07.036. Epub 2023 Aug 2.

Authors

Huayun Li¹, Yihe Wang², Hongyu Xi³, Jianxin Zhang⁴, Mengqi Zhao⁵, Xize Jia⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China; Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China; Intelligent Laboratory of Zhejiang Province in Mental Health and Crisis Intervention for Children and Adolescents, Jinhua, China. Electronic address: lihuayun99@163.com.
² School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China; Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China; Intelligent Laboratory of Zhejiang Province in Mental Health and Crisis Intervention for Children and Adolescents, Jinhua, China.
³ School of Western Language, Heilongjiang University, Harbin, China.
⁴ School of Foreign Studies, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao, China.
⁵ School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China; Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China.
⁶ School of Psychology, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China; Key Laboratory of Intelligent Education Technology and Application of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Normal University, Jinhua, China. Electronic address: jiaxize@foxmail.com.

PMID: 37573797
DOI: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2023.07.036

Abstract

Background: Recent studies using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) demonstrate that there is aberrant regional spontaneous brain activity in obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD). Nevertheless, the results of previous studies are contradictory, especially in the abnormal brain regions and the directions of their activities. It is necessary to perform a meta-analysis to identify the common pattern of altered regional spontaneous brain activity in patients with OCD.

Methods: The present study conducted a systematic search for studies in English published up to May 2023 in PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase. These studies measured differences in regional spontaneous brain activity at the whole brain level using regional homogeneity (ReHo), the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) and the fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF). Then the Anisotropic effect-size version of seed-based d mapping (AES-SDM) was used to investigate the consistent abnormality of regional spontaneous brain activity in patients with OCD.

Results: 27 studies (33 datasets) were included with 1256 OCD patients (650 males, 606 females) and 1176 healthy controls (HCs) (588 males, 588 females). Compared to HCs, patients with OCD showed increased spontaneous brain activity in the right inferior parietal gyrus (Brodmann Area 39), left median cingulate and paracingulate gyri (Brodmann Area 24), bilateral inferior cerebellum, right middle frontal gyrus (Brodmann Area 46), left inferior frontal gyrus in triangular part (Brodmann Area 45) and left middle frontal gyrus in orbital part (Brodmann Area 11). Meanwhile, decreased spontaneous brain activity was identified in the right precentral gyrus (Brodmann Area 4), right insula (Brodmann Area 48), left postcentral gyrus (Brodmann Area 43), bilateral superior cerebellum and left caudate (Brodmann Area 25).

Conclusions: This meta-analysis provided a quantitative review of spontaneous brain activity in OCD. The results demonstrated that the brain regions in the frontal lobe, sensorimotor cortex, cerebellum, caudate and insula are crucially involved in the pathophysiology of OCD. This research contributes to the understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanism underlying OCD and could provide a new perspective on future diagnosis and treatment of OCD.

Keywords: Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations; Fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation; Meta-analysis; Obsessive-compulsive disorder; Regional homogeneity; Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Publication types

Review