Cortical glutamate and GABA are related to compulsive behaviour in individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder and healthy controls

Marjan Biria; Paula Banca; Máiréad P Healy; Engin Keser; Stephen J Sawiak; Christopher T Rodgers; Catarina Rua; Ana Maria Frota Lisbôa Pereira de Souza; Aleya A Marzuki; Akeem Sule; Karen D Ersche; Trevor W Robbins

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-38695-z

Cortical glutamate and GABA are related to compulsive behaviour in individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder and healthy controls

Nat Commun. 2023 Jun 27;14(1):3324. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-38695-z.

Authors

Marjan Biria^{1

2}, Paula Banca^{3

4}, Máiréad P Healy^#^{3

4}, Engin Keser^#³, Stephen J Sawiak^{4

5}, Christopher T Rodgers⁶, Catarina Rua^{6

7}, Ana Maria Frota Lisbôa Pereira de Souza^{3

4}, Aleya A Marzuki^{3

4

8}, Akeem Sule⁹, Karen D Ersche^{9

10

11}, Trevor W Robbins^{12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK. [email protected].
² Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK. [email protected].
³ Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK.
⁴ Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK.
⁵ Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EL, UK.
⁶ Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 0QQ, UK.
⁷ Department of Clinical Neurosciences and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
⁸ Department of Psychology, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.
⁹ Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
¹¹ Department of Addictive Behaviour and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
¹² Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK. [email protected].
¹³ Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EB, UK. [email protected].

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

There has been little analysis of neurochemical correlates of compulsive behaviour to illuminate its underlying neural mechanisms. We use 7-Tesla proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) to assess the balance of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmission by measuring glutamate and GABA levels in anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and supplementary motor area (SMA) of healthy volunteers and participants with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Within the SMA, trait and clinical measures of compulsive behaviour are related to glutamate levels, whereas a behavioural index of habitual control correlates with the glutamate:GABA ratio. Participants with OCD also show the latter relationship in the ACC while exhibiting elevated glutamate and lower GABA levels in that region. This study highlights SMA mechanisms of habitual control relevant to compulsive behaviour, common to the healthy sub-clinical and OCD populations. The results also demonstrate additional involvement of anterior cingulate in the balance between goal-directed and habitual responding in OCD.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Compulsive Behavior
Glutamic Acid*
Humans
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder*
Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
gamma-Aminobutyric Acid

Substances

Glutamic Acid
gamma-Aminobutyric Acid

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

Grants and funding