The Phenomenology and Treatment of Obessive-Compulsive Disorder in Adults

Insel, T R.

Abstract

Obsessive-compulsive disorder has been studied from several different perspectives since the beginning of this project in 1980. During the past year, three areas of interest have been pursued. We have followed up on our previous treatment studies with a double-blind comparison of the tricyclic antidepressants clomipramine and desipramine. Clomipramine appears to be more effective than desipramine for reducing obsessional symptoms, although the drugs have been previously shown to be equally effective as antidepressants. A second research focus has looked at cerebral blood flow during laboratory precipitated anxiety in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients. Results from this study are currently being analyzed. Finally, the natural course of this disorder has been investigated with a follow-up study of subjects recruited in 1980 and 1981.

Funding Agency

• Agency: National Institute of Health (NIH)
• Institute: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
• Type: Intramural Research (Z01)
• Project #: 1Z01MH000336-06
• Application #: 4696324
• Support Year: 6
• Fiscal Year: 1985

Institution

• Name: U.S. National Institute of Mental Health
• Country: United States

Publications

Walitza, Susanne; Marinova, Zoya; Grünblatt, Edna et al. (2014) Trio study and meta-analysis support the association of genetic variation at the serotonin transporter with early-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder. Neurosci Lett 580:100-3

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Wang, Y; Adamczyk, A; Shugart, Y Y et al. (2009) A screen of SLC1A1 for OCD-related alleles. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet :

Murphy, Dennis L; Lesch, Klaus-Peter (2008) Targeting the murine serotonin transporter: insights into human neurobiology. Nat Rev Neurosci 9:85-96

Wheaton, Michael; Timpano, Kiara R; Lasalle-Ricci, V Holland et al. (2008) Characterizing the hoarding phenotype in individuals with OCD: associations with comorbidity, severity and gender. J Anxiety Disord 22:243-52

Wendland, Jens R; Kruse, Matthew R; Cromer, Kiara R et al. (2007) A large case-control study of common functional SLC6A4 and BDNF variants in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology 32:2543-51

Lerner, A; Bagic, A; Boudreau, E A et al. (2007) Neuroimaging of neuronal circuits involved in tic generation in patients with Tourette syndrome. Neurology 68:1979-87

Cromer, Kiara R; Schmidt, Norman B; Murphy, Dennis L (2007) An investigation of traumatic life events and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behav Res Ther 45:1683-91

Grados, M A; Samuels, J; Shugart, Y Y et al. (2007) Rare plus common SERT variants in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Mol Psychiatry 12:422-3

Cromer, Kiara R; Schmidt, Norman B; Murphy, Dennis L (2007) Do traumatic events influence the clinical expression of compulsive hoarding? Behav Res Ther 45:2581-92