Cerebral network connectivity in OCD: Impacts of certain and uncertain action – reaction mapping
Poster No:
600
Submission Type:
Abstract Submission
Authors:
Giulia Gargano1, John Kopchick2, Phillip Easter1, David Rosenberg1, Jeffrey Stanley2, Vaibhav Diwadkar1
Institutions:
1Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, 2Wayne State University, Department of Psychiatry, Detroit, MI
First Author:
Co-Author(s):
Introduction:
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a complex psychiatric condition characterized by the presence of recurrent and unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and/or stereotypical behaviors (compulsions)(Stein et al., 2019). OCD symptoms are associated with specific cognitive biases, particularly higher sensitivity to threats and a greater intolerance of uncertainty (Tolin et al., 2003; van den Hout & Kindt, 2004). The notion of uncertainty is essential in predictive processing models (PPM) of the brain, where uncertainty represents a challenge to coordinated brain network responses , and evokes the recruitment of the brain's predictive hierarchies (from sensory processing to heteromodal regions) (Muzik & Diwadkar, 2023). Here, we evaluated the effect of certainty and uncertainty of the reaction – action cycle on brain network connectivity using a simple uni-manual response task. Participants (OCD and typical controls, TC) used their forefinger to respond to a briefly presented stimulus. Certainty (and uncertainty) was manipulated by varying the response instruction (see Methods).
Methods:
37 OCD patients and 26 healthy controls (HC) performed the task during fMRI acquisition (3T Siemens Verio). The task manipulated the uncertainty of the reaction-action cycle by varying response mode: a) Uncertain: Responding to only specific presented stimuli (green squares in a admixture of rapidly presented green and red squares) vs. b) Certain: Responding to every presented stimulus (Certain). After preprocessing (SPM12) using established methods, time-series were extracted from functionally defined 246-region atlas (Fan et al., 2016). Functional connectivity analysis (based on zero-lag correlations) were conducted to estimated condition-induced connectivity between all 30,012 pairs of regions in each participant's fMRI data. Next, data for each pathway were analyzed in an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) framework to determine a) main effects of condition (Response Mode: Uncertain vs. Certain); b) main effects of group (HC vs OCD); and c) any interaction between group and condition.
Results:
Uncertainty (relative to Certainty) drove increased connectivity within the anterior heteromodal cortices, whereas the converse effect was observed in posterior regions (main effect of condition Figure 1a). OCD patients (relative to controls) displayed a loss of connectivity in cortical structures related to cognitive and motor control (main effect of group, Figure 1b). Finally, a complex interactive pattern emerged (Figure 1c) where in TC, an increase in uncertainty evoked a loss of connectivity in cross-cerebral pathways, with the converse effect observed in OCD.
·Functional connectivity results
Conclusions:
Certainty in the action-reaction cycle drives smooth patterns of network connectivity in the human brain (as is evident from the main effect of condition in Figure 1a and the pattern of connectivity changes seen in TC in Figure 1c) and the effects are broadly consistent with the idea of how the brain forms predictive heirarchies. Moreover, it appears that sensitivity of the OCD brain to changes in the certainty of the action-reaction cycle is profoundly altered. Here, increased uncertainty drives increased connectivity (Figure 1c). More generally, it appears that predictive processing in the OCD brain may be substantially altered by the clinical nature of the condition's symptoms. Our ongoing studies and analyses are addressing these questions.
Disorders of the Nervous System:
Psychiatric (eg. Depression, Anxiety, Schizophrenia) 1
Higher Cognitive Functions:
Executive Function, Cognitive Control and Decision Making
Modeling and Analysis Methods:
fMRI Connectivity and Network Modeling 2
Motor Behavior:
Motor Planning and Execution
Keywords:
Anxiety
Cognition
FUNCTIONAL MRI
Motor
Obessive Compulsive Disorder
Systems
1|2Indicates the priority used for review
Provide references using author date format
Muzik, O. (2023). Depth and hierarchies in the predictive brain: From reaction to action. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Cognitive Science, e1664.
Stein, D. J. (2019). Obsessive–compulsive disorder. Nature reviews Disease primers, 5(1), 52.
Tolin, D. F. (2003). Intolerance of uncertainty in obsessive-compulsive disorder. J Anxiety Disord, 17(2), 233-242.
van den Hout, M. (2004). Obsessive-compulsive disorder and the paradoxical effects of perseverative behaviour on experienced uncertainty. J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry, 35(2), 165-181.