Abnormally Enhanced Midfrontal Theta Activity During Response Monitoring in Youths With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Takakuni Suzuki; Pan Gu; Tyler B Grove; Taeah Hammond; Kelsey M Collins; Preetha Pamidighantam; Paul D Arnold; Stephan F Taylor; Yanni Liu; William J Gehring; Gregory L Hanna; Ivy F Tso

doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.10.020

Abnormally Enhanced Midfrontal Theta Activity During Response Monitoring in Youths With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Biol Psychiatry. 2023 Jun 1;93(11):1031-1040. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.10.020. Epub 2022 Nov 13.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan. Electronic address: sutakaku@umich.edu.
² Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, The Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research & Education, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
⁵ Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.

PMID: 36822934
PMCID: PMC10182182 (available on 2024-06-01)
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.10.020

Abstract

Background: Response monitoring, as reflected in electroencephalogram recordings after commission of errors, has been consistently shown to be abnormally enhanced in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This has traditionally been quantified as error-related negativity (ERN) and may reflect abnormal neurophysiological mechanisms underlying OCD. However, the ERN reflects the increase in phase-locked activities, particularly in the theta-band (4-8 Hz), and does not reflect non-phase-locked activities. To more broadly investigate midfrontal theta activity in a brain region that is essential for complex cognition, this study investigated theta abnormalities during response monitoring in participants with OCD to acheive a better understanding of the mechanism underlying the ERN.

Methods: Electroencephalogram data were recorded from 99 participants with pediatric OCD and 99 sex- and age-matched healthy control participants while they completed the arrow flanker task. Effects of group (OCD, healthy control) and response type (error, correct) on postresponse theta total power and intertrial phase coherence (ITPC) were examined using mixed analysis of covariance and Bayesian analyses controlling for sex and accuracy.

Results: Theta total power was larger on error than on correct trials and larger in OCD than healthy control participants, but there was no effect of response type between groups. Theta ITPC was larger on error than correct trials, but there was no group difference or response type difference between the groups. Correlations of theta total power and ITPC with clinical measures were overall small.

Conclusions: Abnormally enhanced midfrontal theta total power, but not ITPC, may reflect ineffective heightened response monitoring or compensatory activity in pediatric OCD.

Keywords: Cognitive control; Error-related negativity; Intertrial phase coherence; Neural oscillation; Power; Time-frequency analysis.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Child
Cognition
Evoked Potentials
Female
Humans
Male
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder* / physiopathology
Theta Rhythm*
Time Factors
Young Adult

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

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