Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brains of 32 patients who met
the DSM-III criteria for obsessive-compulsive disorder and of 14 normal
subjects frequently revealed abnormalities, but none was specific to
obsessive-compulsive disorder. Spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) for right
frontal white matter was prolonged in the patients compared to the control
subjects, and the patients had greater right-minus-left T1 differences for
frontal white matter. Right-minus-left T1 differences in the orbital
frontal cortex were strongly correlated with symptom severity in the
unmedicated patients and in the patients with family histories of
obsessive-compulsive disorder.Abstract Teaser