1. ¹Laboratoire Mouvement Adaptation Cognition, CNRS UMR 5227, Université Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France
2. ²Service Universitaire de Psychiatrie, Centre Hospitalier Charles Perrens, Bordeaux, France
3. ³Service de Neurophysiologie Clinique, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Pellegrin, Bordeaux, France
4. ⁴CIC-P U 802, Service Hospitalo-Universitaire de Psychiatrie Adulte, Centre Hospitalier Henri Laborit, Centre Hospitalier La Millétrie, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
5. ⁵Laboratoire d'Imagerie Moléculaire et Fonctionnelle, CNRS UMR 5231, Université Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France
6. ⁶Service de Médecine Nucléaire, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Pellegrin, Bordeaux, France
7. ⁷Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Bordeaux, France

Correspondence: Dr J-Y Rotge, Laboratoire Mouvement Adaptation Cognition, CNRS UMR 5227, Université Bordeaux 2, 146 rue Léo-Saignat, Bordeaux, Aquitaine 33076, France. Tel: +33 05 57 57 15 51; Fax: +33 05 56 90 14 21; E-mail: jeanyves.rotge@mac.com

Received 19 August 2009; Revised 28 September 2009; Accepted 29 September 2009; Published online 4 November 2009.

Abstract

Many voxel-based morphometry (VBM) studies have found abnormalities in gray matter density (GMD) in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD). Here, we performed a quantitative meta-analysis of VBM studies contrasting OCD patients with healthy controls (HC). A literature search identified 10 articles that included 343 OCD patients and 318 HC. Anatomic likelihood estimation meta-analyses were performed to assess GMD changes in OCD patients relative to HC. GMD was smaller in parieto-frontal cortical regions, including the supramarginal gyrus, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and the orbitofrontal cortex, and greater in the basal ganglia (putamen) and the anterior prefrontal cortex in OCD patients relative to HC. No significant differences were found between children and adults. Our findings indicate differences in GMD in parieto-frontal areas and the basal ganglia between OCD patients and HC. We conclude that structural abnormalities within the prefrontal-basal ganglia network are involved in OCD pathophysiology.