The Experts below are selected from a list of 2067 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Bunmi O. Olatunji - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
anxiety and safety behavior usage during the covid 19 pandemic the prospective role of Contamination Fear
Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2021Co-Authors: Kelly A Knowles, Bunmi O. OlatunjiAbstract:Abstract The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has broadly increased anxiety and changed individual behavior. However, there is limited research examining predictors of pandemic-related changes, and the majority of existing research is cross-sectional in nature, which limits causal inference. Given functional links with disease avoidance processes, individual differences in Contamination Fear may be especially relevant in predicting responses to COVID-19. Accordingly, the present study prospectively examines Contamination Fear and obsessive-compulsive washing symptoms as predictors of anxiety and safety behaviors in response to COVID-19 in a student sample (N = 108). To examine specificity, anxiety and safety behaviors in response to seasonal influenza are also examined. In the early stages of the pandemic (March 2020), coronavirus-related anxiety was higher than flu-related anxiety (d = 1.38). Obsessive-compulsive washing symptoms also increased from before the pandemic (d = 0.4). Although baseline Contamination Fear and obsessive-compulsive washing symptoms did not significantly predict coronavirus-related anxiety, Contamination Fear did significantly predict safety behavior usage in response to both COVID-19 and influenza. The specificity of the prospective association between Contamination Fear and the use of safety behaviors are discussed in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the broader literature on the role of safety behaviors in anxiety.
-
attentional bias toward threat in Contamination Fear overt components and behavioral correlates
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2012Co-Authors: Thomas Armstrong, Shivali Sarawgi, Bunmi O. OlatunjiAbstract:Recent research suggests that an attentional bias toward threat may play a causal role in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with Contamination concerns. However, the attentional components involved in this bias, as well as its behavioral correlates, remain unclear. In the present study, eye movements were recorded in individuals high and low in Contamination Fear (HCF, LCF, respectively) during 30-s exposures to stimulus arrays containing Contamination threat, general threat, pleasant, and neutral images. HCF individuals oriented gaze toward Contamination threat more often than LCF individuals in initial fixations, and this bias mediated group differences in responding to a behavioral challenge in a public restroom. No group differences were found in the maintenance of gaze on Contamination threat, both in terms of initial gaze encounters, as well as gaze duration over time. However, the HCF group made shorter fixations on Contamination threat relative to other image types. The implications of these findings for further delineating the nature and function of attentional biases in Contamination-based OCD are discussed.
-
Unique Affective and Cognitive Processes in Contamination Appraisals: Implications for Contamination Fear
Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2010Co-Authors: Josh M. Cisler, Jeffrey M. Lohr, Robert E Brady, Thomas G. Adams, Ana J. Bridges, Bunmi O. OlatunjiAbstract:A large body of evidence suggests an important role of disgust in Contamination Fear (CF). A separate line of research implicates various cognitive mechanisms in Contamination Fear, including obsessive beliefs, memory biases, and delayed attentional disengagement from threat. This study is an initial attempt to integrate these two lines of research and examines whether disgust and delayed attention disengagement from threat explain unique or overlapping processes within CF. Non-clinical undergraduate students (N = 108) completed a spatial cueing task, which provided measures of delayed disengagement from frightening and disgusting cues, and a self-report measure of disgust propensity (DP). Participants also completed a chain of contagion task, in which they provided Contamination appraisals of an object as a function of degrees of removal from an initial contaminant. Results demonstrated that DP predicted greater initial Contamination appraisals, but a sharper decline in estimations across further degrees of removal from the contaminant. Delayed disengagement from disgust cues uniquely predicted sustained elevations in Contamination estimations across further degrees of removal from the contaminant. These results suggest that DP and delayed disengagement from disgust cues explain unique and complimentary processes in Contamination appraisals, which suggests the utility of incorporating the disparate affective and cognitive lines of research on CF.
-
orienting and maintenance of gaze in Contamination Fear biases for disgust and Fear cues
Behaviour Research and Therapy, 2010Co-Authors: Thomas Armstrong, Bunmi O. Olatunji, Shivali Sarawgi, Casey SimmonsAbstract:The present study examines the extent to which attentional biases in Contamination Fear commonly observed in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are specific to disgust or Fear cues, as well as the components of attention involved. Eye tracking was used to provide greater sensitivity and specificity than afforded by traditional reaction time measures of attention. Participants high (HCF; n = 23) and low (LCF; n = 25) in Contamination Fear were presented with disgusted, Fearful, or happy faces paired with neutral faces for 3 s trials. Evidence of both vigilance and maintenance-based biases for threat was found. The high group oriented attention to Fearful faces but not disgusted faces compared to the low group. However, the high group maintained attention on both disgusted and Fearful expressions compared to the low group, a pattern consistent across the 3 s trials. The implications of these findings for conceptualizing emotional factors that moderate attentional biases in Contamination-based OCD are discussed.
-
components of attentional biases in Contamination Fear evidence for difficulty in disengagement
Behaviour Research and Therapy, 2010Co-Authors: Josh M. Cisler, Bunmi O. OlatunjiAbstract:Attentional bias for threat has been implicated in the Contamination Fear (CF) subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but the components of the bias (facilitated attention versus difficulty in disengagement) and the stage of processing during which the bias occurs (early versus late stage of processing) remains unclear. Further, it is unclear whether attentional biases in CF are towards Fear or disgust-related stimuli. The present study examined attentional biases in a group of individuals selected to have elevated CF (n = 23) and a control group (n = 28) using the spatial cueing task. Stimuli were neutral, disgusting, or frightening pictures presented for either 100 or 500 ms. Results revealed evidence for delayed disengagement from both Fear and disgust stimuli in the CF group, but not in the control group. The effect appeared to be greater at 500 ms stimulus presentation, but did not appear to differ between Fear and disgust stimuli. The CF group was associated with delayed disengagement from threat even when controlling for generic response slowing. Theoretical and clinical implications are discussed.
Jeffrey M. Lohr - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
a behavioral test of Contamination Fear in excessive health anxiety
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 2014Co-Authors: Robert E Brady, Jeffrey M. LohrAbstract:Abstract Background and objectives Health anxiety is characterized by a preoccupation with the possibility of having a serious health condition or disease. Contemporary conceptualizations of health anxiety have improved in recent years to incorporate a Fear of acquiring an illness; however, there is limited experimental data demonstrating the presence of Fear of Contamination among health anxious individuals. Method The present study utilized behavior approach tasks (BATs) to examine the degree to which Contamination Fear is present in elevated health anxiety. Participants were 60 undergraduate students who reported elevated health anxiety, Contamination Fear, or no anxiety about either health or Contamination. Participants completed four BATS from which avoidance, anxiety, and disgust ratings were derived. Results Health anxious and Contamination Fearful individuals exhibited a similar degree of avoidance during the BATs. Contamination Fearful participants reported significantly more anxiety and disgust relative to the non-anxious controls, but not the health anxious participants. Health anxious participants did not report more anxiety or disgust than the non-anxious participants. Limitations The use of an analogue sample may limit the extension of these findings to clinical populations. Additionally, the role of general negative affect could not be reliably determined in the absence of an anxious control group. Conclusions These findings suggest that Contamination Fear may be a source of conceptual overlap between health anxiety and other disorders characterized by Contamination Fear. This highlights the importance of considering Contamination Fear in excessive health anxiety.
-
Unique Affective and Cognitive Processes in Contamination Appraisals: Implications for Contamination Fear
Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2010Co-Authors: Josh M. Cisler, Jeffrey M. Lohr, Robert E Brady, Thomas G. Adams, Ana J. Bridges, Bunmi O. OlatunjiAbstract:A large body of evidence suggests an important role of disgust in Contamination Fear (CF). A separate line of research implicates various cognitive mechanisms in Contamination Fear, including obsessive beliefs, memory biases, and delayed attentional disengagement from threat. This study is an initial attempt to integrate these two lines of research and examines whether disgust and delayed attention disengagement from threat explain unique or overlapping processes within CF. Non-clinical undergraduate students (N = 108) completed a spatial cueing task, which provided measures of delayed disengagement from frightening and disgusting cues, and a self-report measure of disgust propensity (DP). Participants also completed a chain of contagion task, in which they provided Contamination appraisals of an object as a function of degrees of removal from an initial contaminant. Results demonstrated that DP predicted greater initial Contamination appraisals, but a sharper decline in estimations across further degrees of removal from the contaminant. Delayed disengagement from disgust cues uniquely predicted sustained elevations in Contamination estimations across further degrees of removal from the contaminant. These results suggest that DP and delayed disengagement from disgust cues explain unique and complimentary processes in Contamination appraisals, which suggests the utility of incorporating the disparate affective and cognitive lines of research on CF.
-
disgust sensitivity and emotion regulation potentiate the effect of disgust propensity on spider Fear blood injection injury Fear and Contamination Fear
Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 2009Co-Authors: Josh M. Cisler, Bunmi O. Olatunji, Jeffrey M. LohrAbstract:Research consistently reveals a relation between disgust and specific anxiety concerns, but research has only begun to investigate possible mechanisms by which this relation occurs. The current study tested whether disgust sensitivity (DS; a specific difficulty regulating disgust) and general emotion dysregulation (GED; non-emotion-specific regulation difficulties) moderated the relation between disgust propensity (DP) and spider Fear, blood-injection-injury (BII) Fear, and Contamination Fear. A total of 594 undergraduate students completed verbal-report measures of DP, DS, GED, negative affectivity, and spider, BII, and Contamination Fears. Results suggest that GED potentiates the ability of DP to predict spider and Contamination Fears, but not BII Fears. DS potentiates the ability of DP to predict BII Fears, but not spider or Contamination Fears. These data suggest that GED and DS are possible mechanisms that strengthen the influence of DP on spider, BII, and Contamination Fears. The present study demonstrates the utility of incorporating emotion regulation into the theory of disgust in certain anxiety disorders.
-
information processing in Contamination Fear a covariation bias examination of Fear and disgust
Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2009Co-Authors: Bunmi O. Olatunji, Jeffrey M. Lohr, Kevin M Connolly, Kathryn S Hahn, Nathan L WilliamsAbstract:The current study represents the first examination of covariation biases in Contamination Fear. Using an undergraduate sample we examined covariation bias for specific emotion outcomes (Fear specific and disgust specific) associated with Contamination stimuli in high Contamination Fear (HCF; n = 32) and low Contamination Fear (LCF; n = 30) individuals. Following random stimulus-outcome presentation participants provided estimations on the proportion of each presented stimulus-expression pairing. Analyses revealed a specific bias for the over-estimation of Fear and disgust contingencies among the HCF group, but not the LCF group. The current study also revealed a specific covariation bias among HCF, not LCF, participants to over-estimate the contingency between Contamination stimuli and Fear outcomes, not disgust outcomes. Further, results indicate that HCF individuals significantly under-estimate the covariation among Contamination stimuli and safety outcomes compared to LCF participants. These findings are discussed in terms of theoretical implications for information processing biases in anxiety disorders.
-
the disgust propensity and sensitivity scale revised psychometric properties and specificity in relation to anxiety disorder symptoms
Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2007Co-Authors: Bunmi O. Olatunji, Kevin M Connolly, Brett J Deacon, Josh M. Cisler, Jeffrey M. LohrAbstract:The present study examined the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Disgust Propensity and Sensitivity Scale-Revised (DPSS-R) in a nonclinical sample (N = 340). Principal components analysis of the DPSS-R revealed a two-factor structure consisting of Disgust Propensity and Disgust Sensitivity. Although the two-factor structure converged well with prior research, four of the 16 DPSS-R items did not load onto the predicted factor. The DPSS-R demonstrated good reliability and validity. The DPSS-R and its two factors were moderately correlated with spider Fear and Contamination Fear and mildly correlated with injection Fear. The relation between the DPSS-R and these anxiety disorder symptoms remained largely intact after controlling for negative affect. Regression analyses also revealed that the two DPSS-R factors demonstrate specificity in the prediction of anxiety disorder symptoms. These findings are discussed in terms of promoting a more valid and reliable assessment of disgust in anxiety disorders.
Damiaan Denys - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
treatment of sexual trauma dissolves Contamination Fear case report
European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 2013Co-Authors: Mirjam J Nijdam, Marthe M Van Der Pol, Ron E Dekens, Miranda Olff, Damiaan DenysAbstract:Background: In patients with co-morbid obsessive−compulsive disorder (OCD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), repetitive behavior patterns, rituals, and compulsions may ward off anxiety and often function as a coping strategy to control reminders of traumatic events. Therefore, addressing the traumatic event may be crucial for successful treatment of these symptoms. Objective: In this case report, we describe a patient with comorbid OCD and PTSD who underwent pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. Methods: Case Report. A 49-year-old Dutch man was treated for severe PTSD and moderately severe OCD resulting from anal rape in his youth by an unknown adult man. Results: The patient was treated with paroxetine (60 mg), followed by nine psychotherapy sessions in which eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and exposure and response prevention (ERP) techniques were applied. During psychotherapy, remission of the PTSD symptoms preceded remission of the OCD symptoms. Conclusions: This study supports the idea of a functional connection between PTSD and OCD. Successfully processing the trauma results in diminished anxiety associated with trauma reminders and subsequently decreases the need for obsessive−compulsive symptoms. Keywords: Obsessive−compulsive disorder; posttraumatic stress disorder; comorbidity; combined treatment; psychotherapy; Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing; pharmacological treatment (Published: 7 January 2013) Citation: European Journal of Psychotraumatology 2013, 4 : 19157 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ejpt.v4i0.19157
-
dysfunctional reward circuitry in obsessive compulsive disorder
Biological Psychiatry, 2011Co-Authors: Martijn Figee, Matthijs Vink, Femke De Geus, Nienke Vulink, Dick J Veltman, Herman G M Westenberg, Damiaan DenysAbstract:Background Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is primarily conceived as an anxiety disorder but has features resembling addictive behavior. Patients with OCD may develop dependency upon compulsive behaviors because of the rewarding effects following reduction of obsession-induced anxiety. Reward processing is critically dependent on ventral striatal-orbitofrontal circuitry and brain imaging studies in OCD have consistently shown abnormal activation within this circuitry. This is the first functional imaging study to investigate explicitly reward circuitry in OCD. Methods Brain activity during reward anticipation and receipt was compared between 18 OCD patients and 19 healthy control subjects, using a monetary incentive delay task and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Reward processing was compared between OCD patients with predominantly Contamination Fear and patients with predominantly high-risk assessment. Results Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients showed attenuated reward anticipation activity in the nucleus accumbens compared with healthy control subjects. Reduced activity of the nucleus accumbens was more pronounced in OCD patients with Contamination Fear than in patients with high-risk assessment. Brain activity during reward receipt was similar between patients and control subjects. A hint toward more dysfunctional reward processing was found in treatment-resistant OCD patients who subsequently were successfully treated with deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens. Conclusions Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients may be less able to make beneficial choices because of altered nucleus accumbens activation when anticipating rewards. This finding supports the conceptualization of OCD as a disorder of reward processing and behavioral addiction.
-
dysfunctional reward circuitry in obsessive compulsive disorder
Biological Psychiatry, 2011Co-Authors: Martijn Figee, Matthijs Vink, Femke De Geus, Nienke Vulink, Dick J Veltman, Herman G M Westenberg, Damiaan DenysAbstract:BACKGROUND: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is primarily conceived as an anxiety disorder but has features resembling addictive behavior. Patients with OCD may develop dependency upon compulsive behaviors because of the rewarding effects following reduction of obsession-induced anxiety. Reward processing is critically dependent on ventral striatal-orbitofrontal circuitry and brain imaging studies in OCD have consistently shown abnormal activation within this circuitry. This is the first functional imaging study to investigate explicitly reward circuitry in OCD. METHODS: Brain activity during reward anticipation and receipt was compared between 18 OCD patients and 19 healthy control subjects, using a monetary incentive delay task and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Reward processing was compared between OCD patients with predominantly Contamination Fear and patients with predominantly high-risk assessment. RESULTS: Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients showed attenuated reward anticipation activity in the nucleus accumbens compared with healthy control subjects. Reduced activity of the nucleus accumbens was more pronounced in OCD patients with Contamination Fear than in patients with high-risk assessment. Brain activity during reward receipt was similar between patients and control subjects. A hint toward more dysfunctional reward processing was found in treatment-resistant OCD patients who subsequently were successfully treated with deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens. CONCLUSIONS: Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients may be less able to make beneficial choices because of altered nucleus accumbens activation when anticipating rewards. This finding supports the conceptualization of OCD as a disorder of reward processing and behavioral addiction.
-
disgust affects tnf α il 6 and noradrenalin levels in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder
Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2010Co-Authors: Sjoerd B A H A Fluitman, Damiaan Denys, Cobi Jacoba Johanna Heijnen, Herman G M WestenbergAbstract:Summary Neurobiological research of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) has rarely taken in account the context dependent evocation of obsessive–compulsive symptoms. To bypass this obstacle, this study investigated neurobiological parameters during a standardized disgust provocation paradigm in patients with OCD and healthy controls. Ten OCD patients and 10 healthy controls were exposed to 9 disgust related items using a standardized provocation paradigm. Catecholamines and cortisol in plasma and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated levels of TNF-α and IL-6 by peripheral leucocytes were assessed along with severity of obsessive–compulsive symptoms, disgust, and anxiety levels using Visual Analogue Scales prior, during and after a provocation paradigm. Noradrenalin levels increased, while LPS stimulated TNF-α and IL-6 by peripheral leucocytes decreased during exposure to disgust related objects in OCD patients but not in healthy controls. Cortisol levels were not affected by exposure neither in patients nor in controls, but overall cortisol levels of OCD patients were increased compared to controls. In conclusion, our data suggests that symptom provocation in OCD patients with Contamination Fear is accompanied by alterations in the immune and neuroendocrine systems but does not affect cortisol levels.
Andrea Poli - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
different disgust domains specifically relate to mental and contact Contamination Fear in obsessive compulsive disorder evidence from a path analytic model in an italian clinical sample
Behavior Therapy, 2019Co-Authors: Andrea Poli, Gabriele Melli, Adam S RadomskyAbstract:Both contact Contamination (CC) and mental Contamination (MC) Fears-which combined represent the most common manifestation of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)-have been widely associated with disgust propensity. However, extant research explored this relationship using measures assessing only pathogen-related disgust, not taking into account the potential role played by sexual and moral disgust, despite literature about MC suggesting that this might be particularly relevant. In Study 1, the psychometric properties of the Italian version of the Three Domains of Disgust Scale (TDDS) were assessed in a large Italian community sample. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses confirmed the three-factor structure of the TDDS. The scale also showed good internal consistency and construct validity. In Study 2, the differential patterns of relationships between CC and MC and the three disgust domains were explored in an Italian clinical OCD sample using a path analytic approach. The TDDS-Pathogen subscale was a unique predictor of CC while the TDDS-Sexual subscale was a unique predictor of MC, after controlling for anxiety and depression. Surprisingly, the TDDS-Moral subscale was not a predictor of either domain of Contamination Fear. Limitations and clinical implications are discussed.
-
The differential relationship between mental Contamination and the core dimensions of contact Contamination Fear.
Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 2016Co-Authors: Gabriele Melli, Claudia Carraresi, Francesco Bulli, Federica Tarantino, Simona Gelli, Andrea PoliAbstract:Abstract Two types of Contamination Fear are recognized: contact and mental Contamination. Contact Contamination appears to be motivated both by harm avoidance and disgust avoidance. This study aimed to examine the relationships between disgust propensity, mental Contamination and contact Contamination while differentiating between harm avoidance and disgust avoidance in contact Contamination. 169 OCD patients completed a set of questionnaires assessing mental Contamination, contact Contamination, disgust propensity, OCD, anxiety and depression. 1) Contact Contamination based on disgust avoidance was more strongly associated with mental Contamination and disgust propensity than contact Contamination based on harm avoidance; 2) mental Contamination significantly predicted contact Contamination based on disgust avoidance, while it did not predict contact Contamination based on harm avoidance; 3) mental Contamination had a significant mediational role in the relationship between disgust propensity and contact Contamination motivated by disgust avoidance. Mental Contamination plays a role in contact Contamination Fear when disgust is primarily experienced.
Herman G M Westenberg - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
-
dysfunctional reward circuitry in obsessive compulsive disorder
Biological Psychiatry, 2011Co-Authors: Martijn Figee, Matthijs Vink, Femke De Geus, Nienke Vulink, Dick J Veltman, Herman G M Westenberg, Damiaan DenysAbstract:Background Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is primarily conceived as an anxiety disorder but has features resembling addictive behavior. Patients with OCD may develop dependency upon compulsive behaviors because of the rewarding effects following reduction of obsession-induced anxiety. Reward processing is critically dependent on ventral striatal-orbitofrontal circuitry and brain imaging studies in OCD have consistently shown abnormal activation within this circuitry. This is the first functional imaging study to investigate explicitly reward circuitry in OCD. Methods Brain activity during reward anticipation and receipt was compared between 18 OCD patients and 19 healthy control subjects, using a monetary incentive delay task and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Reward processing was compared between OCD patients with predominantly Contamination Fear and patients with predominantly high-risk assessment. Results Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients showed attenuated reward anticipation activity in the nucleus accumbens compared with healthy control subjects. Reduced activity of the nucleus accumbens was more pronounced in OCD patients with Contamination Fear than in patients with high-risk assessment. Brain activity during reward receipt was similar between patients and control subjects. A hint toward more dysfunctional reward processing was found in treatment-resistant OCD patients who subsequently were successfully treated with deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens. Conclusions Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients may be less able to make beneficial choices because of altered nucleus accumbens activation when anticipating rewards. This finding supports the conceptualization of OCD as a disorder of reward processing and behavioral addiction.
-
dysfunctional reward circuitry in obsessive compulsive disorder
Biological Psychiatry, 2011Co-Authors: Martijn Figee, Matthijs Vink, Femke De Geus, Nienke Vulink, Dick J Veltman, Herman G M Westenberg, Damiaan DenysAbstract:BACKGROUND: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is primarily conceived as an anxiety disorder but has features resembling addictive behavior. Patients with OCD may develop dependency upon compulsive behaviors because of the rewarding effects following reduction of obsession-induced anxiety. Reward processing is critically dependent on ventral striatal-orbitofrontal circuitry and brain imaging studies in OCD have consistently shown abnormal activation within this circuitry. This is the first functional imaging study to investigate explicitly reward circuitry in OCD. METHODS: Brain activity during reward anticipation and receipt was compared between 18 OCD patients and 19 healthy control subjects, using a monetary incentive delay task and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Reward processing was compared between OCD patients with predominantly Contamination Fear and patients with predominantly high-risk assessment. RESULTS: Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients showed attenuated reward anticipation activity in the nucleus accumbens compared with healthy control subjects. Reduced activity of the nucleus accumbens was more pronounced in OCD patients with Contamination Fear than in patients with high-risk assessment. Brain activity during reward receipt was similar between patients and control subjects. A hint toward more dysfunctional reward processing was found in treatment-resistant OCD patients who subsequently were successfully treated with deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens. CONCLUSIONS: Obsessive-compulsive disorder patients may be less able to make beneficial choices because of altered nucleus accumbens activation when anticipating rewards. This finding supports the conceptualization of OCD as a disorder of reward processing and behavioral addiction.
-
disgust affects tnf α il 6 and noradrenalin levels in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder
Psychoneuroendocrinology, 2010Co-Authors: Sjoerd B A H A Fluitman, Damiaan Denys, Cobi Jacoba Johanna Heijnen, Herman G M WestenbergAbstract:Summary Neurobiological research of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) has rarely taken in account the context dependent evocation of obsessive–compulsive symptoms. To bypass this obstacle, this study investigated neurobiological parameters during a standardized disgust provocation paradigm in patients with OCD and healthy controls. Ten OCD patients and 10 healthy controls were exposed to 9 disgust related items using a standardized provocation paradigm. Catecholamines and cortisol in plasma and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated levels of TNF-α and IL-6 by peripheral leucocytes were assessed along with severity of obsessive–compulsive symptoms, disgust, and anxiety levels using Visual Analogue Scales prior, during and after a provocation paradigm. Noradrenalin levels increased, while LPS stimulated TNF-α and IL-6 by peripheral leucocytes decreased during exposure to disgust related objects in OCD patients but not in healthy controls. Cortisol levels were not affected by exposure neither in patients nor in controls, but overall cortisol levels of OCD patients were increased compared to controls. In conclusion, our data suggests that symptom provocation in OCD patients with Contamination Fear is accompanied by alterations in the immune and neuroendocrine systems but does not affect cortisol levels.