Neuromagnetic mismatch responses to auditory deviance during periods of threat and safe anticipation in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Abstract

Purpose: Compulsion is the most prominent feature of OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder), a condition that causes distress and disability. Animal models of compulsion suggest that deviance detection contributes to the pathogenesis of OCD. Auditory mismatch negativity (MMN)/its magnetic counterpart (MMNm), is an electromagnetic brain response that reflects auditory deviance-detection. OCD is also characterized by harm avoidance and hypersensitivity to potential threats. MMN is known to be related to anxious reactivity and a state of anticipatory anxiety. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the effect of threat anticipation on MMNm in OCD patients and healthy controls. Methods: 27 OCD patients and 19 controls were presented with a classical oddball paradigm of interspersed repeated standard tone stimuli and unitary deviant tone stimuli. Auditory stimuli were presented under threat conditions, when participants were anticipating unpleasant electric shocks, and safe conditions when no shocks were anticipated. Magnetic data was collected with a 152-channel whole-head MEG system. Distributed source estimation was conducted across regions of interest (ROIs) of the brain. Results: ROI analyses revealed greater activity in response to stimulus deviance in OCD patients in right lateral orbitofrontal cortex. ROI analysis showed an interaction effect between group and condition in the medial orbitofrontal cortex. Conclusions: Our results support MMN response in lateral and medial orbitofrontal cortex as a potential biomarker of OCD.