Abnormal brain activation in excoriation (skin-picking) disorder: evidence from an executive planning fMRI study.

Br J Psychiatry. 2015 Jul 9;

Authors: Odlaug BL, Hampshire A, Chamberlain SR, Grant JE

Abstract
BackgroundExcoriation (skin-picking) disorder (SPD) is a relatively common psychiatric condition whose neurobiological basis is unknown.AimsTo probe the function of fronto-striatal circuitry in SPD.MethodEighteen participants with SPD and 15 matched healthy controls undertook an executive planning task (Tower of London) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Activation during planning was compared between groups using region of interest and whole-brain permutation cluster approaches.ResultsThe SPD group exhibited significant functional underactivation in a cluster encompassing bilateral dorsal striatum (maximal in right caudate), bilateral anterior cingulate and right medial frontal regions. These abnormalities were, for the most part, outside the dorsal planning network typically activated by executive planning tasks.ConclusionsAbnormalities of neural regions involved in habit formation, action monitoring and inhibition appear involved in the pathophysiology of SPD. Implications exist for understanding the basis of excessive grooming and the relationship of SPD with putative obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorders.

PMID: 26159604 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]