THE ROLE OF THE BASAL GANGLIA IN OBSESSIV E-COMPULSIVE DISORDERS - ANOVERVIEW

This article reviews the main clinical indicators linking the basal nu clei to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Various pathologies assoc iated with lesions of the basal nuclei are examined, followed by a rev iew of neuropharmacological, brain imaging and psychosurgical studies. Once the role of the neostriatum in ritualistic behaviours has been c larified, the symptoms of OCD are interpreted based on the hypothesis of a lesion of the striato-orbito-frontal loop.