According to researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, different patterns in frontal lobes of the brain are associated with compulsive habits displayed by individuals diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). For instance, researchers show that elevated frequency of activity recorded at the anteromedial orbitofrontal cortex (amOFC), which has been identified as a brain area associated with evaluating risks and rewards before making decisions, corresponds with multiple obsessive-compulsive disorder behaviors such as cleaning repeatedly or checking things multiple times, pulling your hair out, or picking at your own skin. The researchers also noted that there was a direct correlation between these elevated frequency levels in amOFC as they do with obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms like washing, checking, pulling out hair and picking at skin in three patients diagnosed with severe treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder. Using targeted deep brain stimulation (DBS) to the nucleus accumbens–ventral pallidum of these patients resulted in temporarily eliminating directly correlated elevated frequency returned to normal levels and subsequently reduced respective symptoms rapidly. Approximately 30% of patients diagnosed with OCD do not respond to traditional therapeutic treatments, therefore, the results of this research represent an important step toward a better development of more precise, responsive DBS systems, where activations occur only when patients begin experiencing symptoms; thus, providing the possibility for more personalized and effective treatment options.
MBH/AB