Negative Valence in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: A Worldwide Mega-Analysis of Task-Based Functional Neuroimaging Data of the ENIGMA-OCD Consortium

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • ENIGMA-OCD Working Group - (Author)
  • Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
  • Amsterdam University Medical Centers (UMC)
  • Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
  • Columbia University
  • Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
  • National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS)
  • University of Toronto
  • Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL)
  • University of Barcelona
  • CIBER - Mental Health
  • GGz Centraal
  • University of Coimbra
  • Clinical Academic Center of Braga
  • University of Cambridge
  • New York University
  • New York State Office of Mental Health
  • University of Cape Town
  • University of British Columbia
  • Seoul National University
  • Technical University of Munich
  • Arkin Mental Health Care
  • University of Stellenbosch
  • GGZ InGeest
  • University Hospital of Bellvitge
  • Deakin University
  • Goulburn Valley Health
  • University of Minho
  • Jaume I University
  • Leiden University
  • Levvel
  • Ruijin Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
  • Keck School of Medicine at University of Southern California
  • MSB Medical School Berlin Hochschule für Gesundheit und Medizin
  • Fudan University

Abstract

Objective: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with altered brain function related to processing of negative emotions. To investigate neural correlates of negative valence in OCD, we pooled functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 633 individuals with OCD and 453 healthy control participants from 16 studies using different negatively valenced tasks across the ENIGMA (Enhancing Neuro Imaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis) Consortium's OCD Working Group. Methods: Participant data were processed uniformly using HALFpipe, to extract voxelwise participant-level statistical images of one common first-level contrast: negative versus neutral stimuli. In preregistered analyses, parameter estimates were entered into Bayesian multilevel models to examine whole-brain and regional effects of OCD and its clinically relevant features—symptom severity, age of onset, and medication status. Results: We provided a proof of concept that participant-level data can be combined across several task paradigms and observed one common task activation pattern across individuals with OCD and control participants that encompasses frontolimbic and visual areas implicated in negative valence. Compared with control participants, individuals with OCD showed very strong evidence of weaker activation of the bilateral occipital cortex (P+ < 0.001) and adjacent visual processing regions during negative valence processing that was related to greater OCD severity, late onset of the disorder, and an unmedicated status. Individuals with OCD also showed stronger activation in the orbitofrontal, subgenual anterior cingulate, and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (all P+ < 0.1) that was related to greater OCD severity and late onset. Conclusions: In the first mega-analysis of this kind, we replicated previous findings of stronger ventral prefrontal activation in OCD during negative valence processing and highlight the lateral occipital cortex as an important region implicated in altered negative valence processing.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)219-229
Number of pages11
JournalBiological psychiatry
Volume98
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 39725297
ORCID /0000-0002-1753-7811/work/187562939
ORCID /0000-0003-1477-5395/work/187563078
ORCID /0000-0001-6482-1316/work/187563079

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Clinical features, Disorder effects, Mega-analysis, Negative valence, Obsessive-compulsive disorder, Task-based fMRI