Background: Functional imaging studies have demonstrated abnormal patterns of brain activity in obsessive-compulsive disorder, which consistently suggest the alteration of frontal lobe functioning. We performed a brain activation study in obsessive-compulsive disorder using a cognitive task involving the frontal lobes.

Methods: Twenty patients and 20 healthy control subjects were assessed with functional magnetic resonance imaging during a phonologically guided word generation task. The study analysis was based on the comparison of group average time-course functional changes occurring at the site of largest frontal cortex activation during alternating rest and task periods.

Results: In terms of relative signal changes, patients showed a significantly greater activation during word generation and a defective suppression of this activation during the following rest period. Both abnormal imaging findings significantly correlated with the severity of the clinical process assessed by the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale.

Conclusions: The results indicate that functional magnetic resonance imaging during cognitive challenge may be useful to reveal distinctive features of latent brain dysfunction in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/s0006-3223(98)00099-7DOI Listing

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