A new study provides evidence that obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is caused by misfiring of the brain's control system.
One in every 40 Americans has OCD, which is characterized by anxiousness and repetitive behaviors.Sufferers try to suppress negative feelings and nervousness through repeating routines.
Researchers at the University of Cambridge scanned the brains of 37 patients with OCD and 33 healthy controls without the disorder while the participants performed a simple pedal-pressing behavioral response to avoid a mild electric shock to the wrist.
The patients with OCD were less capable of stopping pedal-pressing habits, and this was linked to excessive brain activity in a region that must fire correctly to control habits.
“Unravelling the underlying causes of OCD could lead to improved treatment of the condition, and may provide an important step forward in the management of compulsion in other forms, from binge-eating to alcohol abuse,” said Dr. John Isacc of the Wellcome Trust, which funded the study, published in the
American Journal of Psychiatry.
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