Neural Explanation of OCD^ Flashcards
Neural Explanation
characteristics from the nervous system
Decision-Making Systems
Impaired = cause OCD
Frontal Lobe
- decision making
- Can’t make logical decisions all the time = obsessive thoughts
Parahippocampal Gyrus
- processing unpleasant memories
- Can’t process negative emotions = anxiety/ depression = compulsions
Role of Serotonin
Genes influence regulation of some neurotransmitter and structures of brain
Serotonin
- neurotransmitter that regulates mood = not transported across neurons = low mood = OCD
The Worry Circuit
Orbitofrontal Cortex – responsible for receiving worry signals
- Sends the signals to the Thalamus
- After getting the signal back from the Thalamus, it sends it to the Caudate Nucleus
Caudate Nucleus – lies between OFC and Thalamus and suppresses worry signals
- People with OCD this is impaired, so can’t suppress signals = person is anxious
Thalamus – receives signals from OFC and send them to the correct brain region to deal with
- Since its a worry signal it gets sent back to the OFC
Research Support
Nestadt et al
- OCD can form part of bio conditions
if bio disorder produce the OCD symptoms
bio factors may also be responsible for OCD
No Unique Neural Explanation
Serotonin is not only linked to OCD
Many with OCD are also diagnosed with depression
- Co-morbid: having more than one disorder
Depression likely involves low levels of serotonin
- low levels in OCD could be because they are depressed, not that it causes OCD
Serotonin may be unrelated to OCD symptoms
Correlation & Causality
Link between neural explanation and OCD is correlational
Serotonin may not be the cause of OCD
Can’t state that lower levels of serotonin causes OCD
The validity of serotonin causing OCD as well as other neural explanations should be questioned
Real World Application
SSRIs developed to stop the reuptake of serotonin
Increasing the levels of serotonin = mood is regulated = P is not as depressed/anxious
Improve quality of life for those with OCD
