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Rapid effects of brief intensive cognitive-behavioral therapy on brain glucose metabolism in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Molecular Psychiatry volume 14, pages 197–205 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Brief intensive cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) using exposure and response prevention significantly improves obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) symptoms in as little as 4 weeks. However, it has been thought that much longer treatment was needed to produce the changes in brain function seen in neuroimaging studies of OCD. We sought to elucidate the brain mediation of response to brief intensive CBT for OCD and determine whether this treatment could induce functional brain changes previously seen after longer trials of pharmacotherapy or standard CBT. [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography brain scans were obtained on 10 OCD patients before and after 4 weeks of intensive individual CBT. Twelve normal controls were scanned twice, several weeks apart, without treatment. Regional glucose metabolic changes were compared between groups. OCD symptoms, depression, anxiety and overall functioning improved robustly with treatment. Significant changes in normalized regional glucose metabolism were seen after brief intensive CBT (P=0.04). Compared to controls, OCD patients showed significant bilateral decreases in normalized thalamic metabolism with intensive CBT but had a significant increase in right dorsal anterior cingulate cortex activity that correlated strongly with the degree of improvement in OCD symptoms (P=0.02). The rapid response of OCD to intensive CBT is mediated by a distinct pattern of changes in regional brain function. Reduction of thalamic activity may be a final common pathway for improvement in OCD, but response to intensive CBT may require activation of dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, a region involved in reappraisal and suppression of negative emotions.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by an NIMH grant (R01 MH069433) to Dr Saxena and by donations to the Westwood Institute for Anxiety Disorders (Dr Gorbis). For generous support, we thank the Brain Mapping Medical Research Organization, Brain Mapping Support Foundation, Pierson-Lovelace Foundation, Ahmanson Foundation, Tamkin Foundation, Jennifer Jones-Simon Foundation, Capital Group Companies Charitable Foundation, Robson Family, William M and Linda R Dietel Philanthropic Fund at the Northern Piedmont Community Foundation, Northstar Fund and the National Center for Research Resources grants RR12169, RR13642 and RR08655. This work was presented in part at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 43rd Annual Meeting (San Juan, Puerto Rico, 15 December 2004).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    S Saxena

  2. Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    E Gorbis, J O'Neill, S K Baker, K M Maidment, S Chang, A L Brody, J M Schwartz & E D London

  3. Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    M A Mandelkern & A L Brody

  4. Department of Radiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    N Salamon

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  1. S Saxena
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Saxena, S., Gorbis, E., O'Neill, J. et al. Rapid effects of brief intensive cognitive-behavioral therapy on brain glucose metabolism in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Mol Psychiatry 14, 197–205 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.mp.4002134

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