Anatomic Review of the Ventral Capsule/Ventral Striatum and the Nucleus Accumbens to Guide Target Selection for Deep Brain Stimulation for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Background: Disturbances in the reward network of the brain underlie addiction, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. The ventral capsule/ventral striatum and nucleus accumbens (NAc) region is a clinically approved target for deep brain stimulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Methods: We performed a comprehensive literature review to define clinically relevant anatomy and connectivity of the ventral capsule/ventral striatum and NAc region to guide target selection for deep brain stimulation.

Results: Architecturally and functionally, the NAc is divided into the core and the shell, with each area having different connections. The shell primarily receives limbic information, and the core typically receives information from the motor system. In general, afferents from the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala are excitatory. The dopaminergic projections to the NAc from the ventral tegmental area modulate the balance of these excitatory inputs. Several important inputs to the NAc converge at the junction of the internal capsule (IC) and the anterior commissure (AC): the ventral amygdalofugal pathways that run parallel to and underneath the AC, the precommissural fornical fibers that run anterior to the AC, axons from the ventral prefrontal cortex and medial orbitofrontal cortex that occupy the most ventral part of the IC and embedding within the NAc and AC, and the superolateral branch of the medial forebrain bundle located parallel to the anterior thalamic radiation in the IC.

Conclusions: The caudal part of the NAc passing through the IC-AC junction may be an effective target for deep brain stimulation to improve behavioral symptoms associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder.