Obsessive-compulsive symptoms and related sex differences in brain structure: an MRI study in Dutch twins

Twin Res Hum Genet. 2013 Apr;16(2):516-24. doi: 10.1017/thg.2013.10.

Abstract

Neuroimaging studies have indicated abnormalities in cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical circuits in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients, but results have not been consistent. Since there are significant sex differences in human brain anatomy and obsessive-compulsive symptomatology and its developmental trajectories tend to be distinct in males and females, we investigated whether sex is a potential source of heterogeneity in neuroimaging studies on obsessive-compulsive symptoms. We selected male and female twin pairs who were concordant for scoring either high or low for obsessive-compulsive symptoms and a group of discordant pairs where one twin scored high and the co-twin scored low. The design included 24 opposite-sex twin pairs. Magnetic resonance imaging scans of 31 males scoring high for obsessive-compulsive symptoms, 41 low-scoring males, 58 high-scoring females, and 73 low-scoring females were analyzed and the interaction of obsessive-compulsive symptoms by sex on gray matter volume was assessed using voxel-based morphometry. An obsessive-compulsive symptom by sex interaction was observed for the left middle temporal gyrus, the right middle temporal gyrus, and the right precuneus. These interactions acted to reduce or hide a main effect in our study and illustrate the importance of taking sex into account when investigating the neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive symptoms.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Twin Study

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Brain / pathology*
  • Brain Mapping
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cohort Studies
  • Diseases in Twins / diagnosis*
  • Diseases in Twins / genetics
  • Diseases in Twins / psychology
  • Female
  • Gene-Environment Interaction
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / diagnosis*
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / genetics
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / psychology
  • Sex Factors
  • Siblings
  • Twins, Dizygotic / genetics*
  • Twins, Dizygotic / psychology
  • Twins, Monozygotic / genetics*
  • Twins, Monozygotic / psychology
  • Young Adult