Treating OCD, which is not easy, is to treat 'this area' in the brain

When a person becomes anxious because they repeatedly have thoughts or images that they do not want, and then they engage in repetitive actions to get rid of the anxious thoughts, it is called "OCD." As I just said, it's characterized by being 'repetitive'. They also become anxious because of the constant reminders of violent and sexual thoughts, and they feel guilty even though they have done nothing wrong.

Until now, it has been treated through a combination of medication and cognitive behavioral therapy to suppress the rise of impulsivity.

The main causes of OCD

It is caused by an abnormality in the brain's neural circuits and is caused by a decrease in the function of the frontal lobe to suppress impulsive thoughts. In this case, it has been found that when an impulse comes from deep inside the brain, the impulse becomes very strong due to imbalance with other parts of the brain, or the inhibitory power of the frontal lobe or cortex of the brain weakens, resulting in obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Overview of OCD Treatment Research

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) and Diffusion Kurtosis Imaging (DKI) were used at Seoul National University Hospital to reveal abnormalities in white matter connectivity and abnormalities in the microstructure of the striatum, which connects the cerebral cortex and the 'striatum' deep in the brain.

The striatum is a clump of nerves in the deep part of the brain that receives information from the cerebrum, processes self-regulation movements, and performs various activities related to reward.

Background and Results of the Study

Mental illness is caused by the networking of different parts of the brain. In particular, OCD is known to occur due to abnormalities in certain neural circuits. We saw the possibility of treating OCD by blocking that particular neural circuit.

When we examined the brains of OCD patients selected through the Y-BOCS, an OCD scale test, it was found that the connection between the striatum and the parietal lobe was increased, and the connectivity with the frontal lobe was deteriorating.

In addition, when comparing the striatum microstructure of normal control patients with OCD, it was observed that the number of neurons decreased. From this, it was inferred that the microstructural changes in the striatum caused problems with the connectivity with the parietal lobe, and if the balance of the connectivity between the striatum, the parietal lobe, and the frontal lobe could be corrected, OCD could be treated.

This study is significant in that it proved the previous hypothesis that OCD may be a problem with the connection between the striatum and the cortex, and that it found a treatment site for OCD where various methods such as neuromodulation could be used.