Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is linked with dysfunction in frontal-striatal, fronto-limbic, and visual brain regions. Research using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) suggests that altered neurometabolite levels, like glutamate, may contribute to this dysfunction. However, static neurometabolite levels in OCD patients have shown inconsistent results, likely due to previous studies' limited focus on neurometabolite dynamics. We employ functional MRS (fMRS) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to explore these dynamics and brain activation during OCD symptom provocation. We utilized a combined 7-tesla fMRI-fMRS setup to examine task-related BOLD response and glutamate changes in the lateral occipital cortex (LOC) of 30 OCD participants and 34 matched controls during an OCD-specific symptom provocation task. The study examined main effects and between-group differences in brain activation and glutamate levels during the task. A whole sample task-effects analysis on data meeting predefined quality criteria showed significant glutamate increases (n = 41 (22 OCD, 19 controls), mean change: 3.2 %, z = 3.75, p
Journal article
J Affect Disord
02/09/2024
367
416 - 425
7T, BOLD response, Combined fMRI-fMRS, Functional MRS, Glutamate, OCD Symptom provocation, Obsessive-compulsive disorder