Cortical glutamate and GABA are related to compulsive behaviour in individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder and healthy controls.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 37369695.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-38695-z and PMC identifier 10300066.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
There has been little analysis of neurochemical correlates of compulsive behaviour to illuminate its underlying neural mechanisms. We use 7-Tesla proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (<sup>1</sup>H-MRS) to assess the balance of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission by measuring glutamate and GABA levels in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and supplementary motor area (SMA) of healthy volunteers and participants with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Within the SMA, trait and clinical measures of compulsive behaviour are related to glutamate levels, whereas a behavioural index of habitual control correlates with the glutamate:GABA ratio. Participants with OCD also show the latter relationship in the ACC while exhibiting elevated glutamate and lower GABA levels in that region. This study highlights SMA mechanisms of habitual control relevant to compulsive behaviour, common to the healthy sub-clinical and OCD populations. The results also demonstrate additional involvement of anterior cingulate in the balance between goal-directed and habitual responding in OCD.
Medical subject headings
- Glutamic Acid
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder