Abnormal resting-state functional connectivity in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) displays widespread disruption across brain regions revealed by resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) with inconsistent results between studies. We performed a systematic review of 47 seed-based rsFC studies (1863 patients; 1795 healthy controls) to explore brain intrinsic connectivity alterations. Quantitative coordinate-based meta-analysis was conducted for seed regions in the striatum (putamen, caudate, nucleus accumbens [Nac]), thalamus, and anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) because there were an adequate number of studies. We found that OCD patients demonstrated (1) characteristic dysconnectivity between striatum and cortical networks (i.e., caudate hyperconnectivity with the fronto-limbic network and hypoconnectivity with frontoparietal network regions; Nac hypoconnectivity with fronto-limbic network regions), (2) hypoconnectivity between thalamus and striatum (putamen and caudate), and (3) dysconnectivity between the ACC and fronto-limbic network regions. Furthermore, there were negative correlations between particular connectivities and symptom severity and onset age. Our results characterize the traditional cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuit model of OCD pathophysiology through the cerebral intrinsic connectivity, and unified neurocircuitry and brain network models into one integrity to elaborate the neural mechanism of OCD.