Neural AO3

• Supported by PET scans of OCD patients taken while their symptoms are active. The scans showed heightened activities in the orbitofrontal cortex.
• A weakness of the neural explanation is that correlational studies do not indicate a causal relationship. It is possible that OCD causes abnormal brain function (rather than abnormal brain function causing OCD) or both are influenced by a third factor
• The explanation has real life application as it helps experts learn how to use drugs to treat OCD
• Alternative explanations such as cognitive and learning are not considered
• OCD may be maintained through operant conditioning
• Social learning theory can be an explanation. Observing and imitating family members with OCD
• Cognition: irrational thoughts causing irrational behaviours
• Life events: patients with OCD often experience more traumatic events 6 months before onset. Those who experienced sexual abuse are 5 times more likely to develop OCD
• The biological approach is reductionist