A specific pattern of brain activity in a frontal brain region is linked to compulsive behaviors like excessive hand washing, chronic hair-pulling, and skin-picking in people with obsessive compulsive disorder, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. But briefly disrupting that signal can rapidly ease symptoms for people with severe, treatment resistant OCD, according to a study published in Cell.
“Compulsive thoughts and behaviors can vary widely across people with OCD,” said senior author, Casey Halpern, MD, a professor of Neurosurgery and division head of Functional and Stereotactic Neurosurgery. “Identifying brain activity that is consistent despite individuals having different symptoms is a huge step forward in developing new therapies to manage…