Biological Treatments of OCD

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder has three symptoms: Obessions, Guilt & Anxiety & Complusions
• The Neural explanation of OCD focus on the neural and chemical factors that can cause OCD
• anWhen encountered with a worrying stimulusts, the orbitofrontal cortex detects a worrying stimulus and decides on an action to handle this. Once an action has been selected it sends signals to parts of the brain (Motor cortex) to carry out the action, Next, the basal ganglia monitors the outcome of our action. When worrying stimulus has been altered, the basal ganglia sends inhibiting signals back to the orbifrontal cortext.
• People with OCD have impaired communication with the basal ganglia and the orbitofrontal cortex. The signals sent are much weaker than usual. Which makes the orbitfrontal cortex to become hyperactive
• In support foe the neural explanations Max Et al studied a girl who developed OCD after brain damage. Conducted an MRI, showed that the girl had damage to her basal ganglia. This suggests that structural damage to the basal ganglia can cause OCD
• Another example is a man called JD who was diagnosed with OCD. He underwent PET scans which revealed that his basal ganglia were not functioning properly.
• Support for the neural explanations of OCD with Saxena and Rauch reviewed brain imaging studies with adults who do and do not have OCD. Found increased brain activity in the orbitofrontal cortex with adults who have OCD, compared to the control group. This suggests that hyperactivity of the orbitofrontal cortext
• Limitations of the neural explanations of OCD is that the results from brain imaging studies are inconsistent and haven't always been replicated. Aylward et al did not observe any difference between the basal ganglia of people with OCD and healthy controls. This suggests that structural damage to the basal ganglia and hyperactivity it the orbitofrontal cortex might not be the only causes.
• The genetic explanations of OCD claim that we can inherit OCD, as there are specific alleles on different genes that can increase a person's risk of developing OCD.
• The genetic explanation of OCD is supported by Twin Studies. Billet et al found that the concordance rate for OCD between MZ twins is 68% and 3`1% fo DZ twins. This indicates that OCD is partially inherited
• Further support from Family studies. Nestdat et al, recruited a group of patients with OCD, and a control group with no OCD. They found that the OCD patient's family members were more likely to have OCD
• A limitation of twin studies is that assume that MZ and DZ twins have the same amount of shared environment. However, this may not be true, as identical twins are more likely to be treated the same. The high concordance rate IN MZ twins may be caused by shared environmental factors.
• One biological treatment for OCD is SSRI, which block seritonin reuptake, making more serotonin available, which means more inhibition and making less hyperactivity in the orbitofrontal cortext.
• A strength of biological treatments is that the are supported by studies. 70% of adults with OCD who were treated with SSRI's experience an improvement in symptoms. So, researchers concluded that SSRI's are significantly more effective at reducing OCD symptoms than no treatment.
• Another strength of biological treatments is that they are cost-effective for healthcare services to provide.
• However, SSRI's can cause side effects as they block serotonin reuptake in the whole brain. Researchers found that patients treated with SSRIs experienced side effects.
• If patients stop taking SSRIs, the drug will be removed from the body and the symptoms will return. This is called relapse.
• May not be effective at treating the underlying cause of OCD. Combining biological and cognitive treatments could be more effective.