OCD: biological explanation

• OCD is a common mental health condition affecting around 150 people, characterized by obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors.
• The genetic explanation suggests that a vulnerability or predisposition to OCD is inherited from our parents.
• There are some individual genes called candidate genes that are found more frequently in those people who have OCD, including G9 comp Gene, cert Gene, and 5 ht1d beta Gene.
• There are as many as 230 separate genes that could be involved in some way in the development of OCD, meaning OCD is polygenetic.
• Family studies indicate a genetic origin to OCD, with the prevalence rate of OCD in the general population being two percent, but if an individual has OCD, the likelihood that their first two relatives have OCD rises to 10 percent, due to genetics.
• The increased risk is arguably due to shared genetics, with first degree relatives sharing 50 of their genes identical twins who share 100 of their genetic makeup, known as monozygotic twins, have a 68 concordancy rate for OCD, while non-identical or dizygotic twins have a 31 concordancy rate.
• The presence of genes isn't the whole story, as those genes have functions, and candidate genes might influence the functioning of certain neural systems in the brain, especially the serotonin system.
• The neural explanation of OCD includes both biochemical causes, such as an imbalance of neurotransmitters, and the large structures in the brain that are made of many neurons, serotonin is the neurotransmitter most associated with OCD.
• Low levels of Serotonin are thought to cause obsessive thoughts and the low level of Serotonin is likely due to it being removed too quickly from the synapse before it's been able to transmit signal.
• If you haven't studied neurons and synapses yet, that probably sounded like a pretty weird sentence when it comes to the synapse and synaptic transmission.
• The communication between a set of brain structures term the worry circuit is overactive in people of OCD leading to an inability to filter out small worries.
• The concordance rate for monozygotic twins is 100% and for dizygotic twins is 31%.
• Neural imaging studies using pet scanners have shown hyperactivity in the orbital frontal cortex and the claudic nucleus in people with OCD, both while scanning the brain at rest and when symptoms are stimulated.
• The recurring obsessive faults are an attempt to break this loop while carrying out the compulsion may give temporary relief, but the hyperactive basal ganglia will soon resume the worry circuit.
• Neurotransmitters are detected through receptors on the postsynaptic neural if the signal is strong enough, the message is passed on and the neurotransmitters detach from receptors, not taken back into the presynaptic neuron through a process called reuptake.
• The cert Gene is the gene responsible for serotonin transport in the synapse.
• The structures that form the worry circuit are the orbital frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for rational decision making, the basal gangla system, particularly the claudic nucleus, and the thalamus.
• The effectiveness of drug treatments for OCD suggests there's a biological aspect to the disorder.
• The biological approach to explaining OCD suggests there's a high concordance rate between close family members due to a genetic origin.
• Drug therapy is the main type of drug treatment for OCD.
• In normal functioning, the basal gangla filters out minor worries coming from the orbital frontal cortex but if this area is hyperactive, even small worries get to the thalamus which is then passed back to the orbital frontal cortex, forming a loop.
• The concordance rate for identical twins is 68% and for non-identical twins is 31%.
• The diaphysis stress model suggests individuals inherit a genetic vulnerability to OCD, but the disorder does not develop unless there's a stressor, an environmental factor such as a traumatic life experience.
• The parahippocampal gyrus is an area of Cortex on the underside of the brain close to the hippocampus, responsible for regulating and processing unpleasant emotions and has been seen to function abnormally in cases of OCD.
• Tricilics and SNRIs work by increasing serotonin and neuroadrenaline, and can be effective when ssris fail, but because they work on multiple neurotransmitters, they tend to have more intense side effects.
• An advantage of drug therapy is its relatively inexpensive treatment as well as potentially more convenient for the patient, compared to psychological therapies like CBT.
• Research by Samara measured 54 of 256 participants with OCD reporting at least one traumatic life event, suggesting that drug therapy may only be a temporary solution and psychological therapy might be a more effective long-term treatment.
• Other treatment options for OCD include anti-anxiety drugs like benzodiazepines, which enhance GABA and slow the central nervous system, resulting in general relaxation.
• These drugs can take three to four months to impact symptoms, but the dosage can be increased if they are not effective.
• There is research evidence that compared assets rise to placebos, showing that ssris significantly reduced the symptoms of OCD compared to placebos between 6 and 17 weeks post-treatment.
• The name of these drugs explains exactly what they do in the brain, they are selective serotonin meaning they only influence serotonin in the brain reuptake inhibitors meaning they inhibit they slow down the process of reuptake in the synapse, allowing serotonin to continue stimulating the postsynaptic neuron.
• These drugs are reuptake inhibitors, meaning they slow down the process of reuptake in the synapse, allowing serotonin to continue stimulating the postsynaptic neuron.
• These ssris are well named because they only influence serotonin in the brain.
• The used to control the symptoms of OCD is a group of antidepressant drugs known as ssris, one example is fluoxetine also known as Prozac.
• Criticisms of this type of research include that it may not be as reliable as it appears due to the vast majority of the research duties and drug therapies being conducted by the pharmaceutical companies who created them.
• The process of reuptake inhibition by ssris can decrease anxiety by normalizing the activity of the worry circuit.
• A disadvantage of drug therapy is that it's not the preferred treatment plan for many patients, as it can have a range of potential side effects and may not be addressing the underlying cause of OCD.