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Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is known as a clinically heterogeneous disorder characterized by symptom dimensions. Although substantial numbers of neuroimaging studies have demonstrated the presence of brain abnormalities in OCD, their results are controversial. The clinical heterogeneity of OCD could be one of the reasons for this. It has been hypothesized that certain brain regions contributed to the respective obsessive-compulsive dimensions. In this study, we investigated the relationship between symptom dimensions of OCD and brain morphology using voxel-based morphometry to discover the specific regions showing alterations in the respective dimensions of obsessive-compulsive symptoms. The severities of symptom dimensions in thirty-three patients with OCD were assessed using Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised (OCI-R). Along with numerous MRI studies pointing out brain abnormalities in autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) patients, a previous study reported a positive correlation between ASD traits and regional gray matter volume in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and amygdala in OCD patients. We investigated the correlation between gray and white matter volumes at the whole brain level and each symptom dimension score, treating all remaining dimension scores, age, gender, and ASD traits as confounding covariates. Our results revealed a significant negative correlation between washing symptom dimension score and gray matter volume in the right thalamus and a significant negative correlation between hoarding symptom dimension score and white matter volume in the left angular gyrus. Although our result was preliminary, our findings indicated that there were specific brain regions in gray and white matter that contributed to symptom dimensions in OCD patients.

ObjectiveTo investigate the relationship between the severities of symptom dimensions in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and white matter alterations.MethodsWe applied tract-based spatial statistics for diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) acquired by 3T magnetic resonance imaging. First, we compared fractional anisotropy (FA) between 20 OCD patients and 30 healthy controls (HC). Then, applying whole brain analysis, we searched the brain regions showing correlations between the severities of symptom dimensions assessed by Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised and FA in all participants. Finally, we calculated the correlations between the six symptom dimensions and multiple DTI measures [FA, axial diffusivity (AD), radial diffusivity (RD), mean diffusivity (MD)] in a region-of-interest (ROI) analysis and explored the differences between OCD patients and HC.ResultsThere were no between-group differences in FA or brain region correlations between the severities of symptom dimensions and FA in any of the participants. ROI analysis revealed negative correlations between checking severity and left inferior frontal gyrus white matter and left middle temporal gyrus white matter and a positive correlation between ordering severity and right precuneus in FA in OCD compared with HC. We also found negative correlations between ordering severity and right precuneus in RD, between obsessing severities and right supramarginal gyrus in AD and MD, and between hoarding severity and right insular gyrus in AD.ConclusionOur study supported the hypothesis that the severities of respective symptom dimensions are associated with different patterns of white matter alterations.

OBJECTIVES Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is one of the most debilitating psychiatric disorders, with some speculating that a reason for difficulty in its treatment might be its coexistence with autism spectrum. We investigated the tendency for autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) in patients with OCD from a neuroimaging point of view using voxel-based morphometry. METHODS We acquired T1-weighted images from 20 patients with OCD and 30 healthy controls and investigated the difference in regional volume between the groups as well as the correlation between Autism-Spectrum Quotient (AQ) scores and regional cerebral volumes of patients with OCD. RESULTS Volumes in the bilateral middle frontal gyri were significantly decreased in patients with OCD compared to controls. Correlational analysis showed significant positive correlations between AQ scores and regional gray matter (GM) volumes in the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and left amygdala. Furthermore, GM volumes of these regions were positively correlated with each other. CONCLUSIONS The positive correlation of ASD traits in patients with OCD with regional GM volumes in the left DLPFC and amygdala could reflect the heterogeneity of patient symptoms. Our results suggest that differences in GM volume might allow classification of patients with OCD for appropriate therapy based on their particular traits.

Objective Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunting can improve symptoms of elderly patients' idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH). However, adjunctive means for confirming the diagnosis remain unavailable. We have previously reported the specific increase of leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein (LRG) in iNPH CSF, and the present study investigates its potential clinical applications. Methods We performed CSF tap test (TT) on 90 patients (mean age 73.4 years) and shunting in 52 patients (mean age 73.5 years), evaluating symptom improvement and higher cerebral functions—mini-mental state examination (MMSE) and Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) before and 12 months after shunting. LRG and tau protein concentrations in TT CSF were simultaneously measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We then compared the predictive value of these concentrations with TT results regarding successful shunting outcomes. Results Positive combinations of TT and LRG concentrations of 67 ng/ml or higher, gave 81.6% sensitivity and 78.6% specificity. Therefore we used LRG (67 ng/ml) and tau (200 pg/ml) cut-off values, dividing patients into four groups. In group A (LRG ≥ 67 ng/ml and tau