Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Puzzles and Prospects

Neuron. 2019 Apr 3;102(1):27-47. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.01.046.

Abstract

Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a severe and disabling psychiatric disorder that presents several challenges for neuroscience. Recent advances in its genetic and developmental causation, as well as its neuropsychological basis, are reviewed. Hypotheses concerning an imbalance between goal-directed and habitual behavior together with neural correlates in cortico-striatal circuitry are evaluated and contrasted with metacognitive theories. Treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) tend to be of mixed efficacy but include psychological, pharmacological, and surgical approaches, the underlying mechanisms of which are still under debate. Overall, the prospects for new animal models and an integrated understanding of the pathophysiology of OCD are considered in the context of dimensional psychiatry.

Keywords: cognitive-behavioral therapy; deep brain stimulation; executive function; glutamate; goal-directed behavior; habit; obsessive compulsive disorder; prefrontal cortex; serotonin; striatum.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anxiety / psychology
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging*
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • Compulsive Behavior / psychology*
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Dopamine Antagonists / therapeutic use
  • Food Addiction / psychology
  • Functional Neuroimaging
  • Gambling / psychology
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease
  • Gyrus Cinguli / surgery
  • Humans
  • Implosive Therapy
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Neurosurgical Procedures
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / diagnostic imaging
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / genetics*
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / psychology
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / therapy
  • Phenotype
  • Positron-Emission Tomography
  • Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / therapeutic use
  • Substance-Related Disorders / psychology

Substances

  • Dopamine Antagonists
  • Serotonin Uptake Inhibitors