Insular Volume Reduction in Patients with Social Anxiety Disorder.

Despite the fact that social anxiety disorder (SAD) is highly prevalent, there have been only a few structural imaging studies. Moreover, most of them reported about a volume reduction in amygdale, which plays a key role in the neural function of SAD. Insula is another region of interest.

Brain structural abnormalities in behavior therapy-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder revealed by voxel-based morphometry.

Background: Although several functional imaging studies have demonstrated that behavior therapy (BT) modifies the neural circuits involved in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), the structural abnormalities underlying BT-resistant OCD remain unknown.

Methods: In this study, we examined the existence of regional structural abnormalities in both the gray matter and the white matter of patients with OCD at baseline using voxel-based morphometry in responders (n=24) and nonresponders (n=15) to subsequent BT. Three-dimensional T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging was performed before the completion of 12 weeks of BT.

Distinct neuropsychological profiles of three major symptom dimensions in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Recent neuroimaging studies have suggested that different symptom dimensions are mediated by partially distinct neural systems in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the correlations between neuropsychological profiles and symptom dimensions in OCD are unknown. The aim of this study was to examine the extent to which OCD symptom dimensions were associated with episodic memory and attention and executive functions.

Changes after behavior therapy among responsive and nonresponsive patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Neuroimaging studies have suggested that behavior therapy (BT) might change abnormal activity in the frontal-subcortical circuits of the brain in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, the results of these studies have been rather inconsistent. The aim of the present study was to use statistical parametric mapping (SPM) analysis to explore the effects of successful BT on regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in patients with OCD.

Gradations of clinical severity and sensitivity to change assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory-II in Japanese patients with depression.

Knowledge of what constitutes a minimal clinically important difference and change on a psychiatric rating scale is essential in interpreting its scores. The present study examines the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), a recently revised successor to the world's most popular self-rating instrument for depression. BDI-II was administered to 85 patients with major depression, diagnosed with DSM-IV along with its severity specifiers.