Applied Psychology

Applied Psychology

Comparing Functional Connections of Brain Waves in Resting State and Imaginary Exposure in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Subgroup with Harm Avoidance Motivation

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Mahjoubeh Pourebrahimi 1
MehdiReza Sarafraz 2
1 Ph.D. of Clinical Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
2 Associate Professor, Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.
10.48308/apsy.2025.239214.1789
Abstract
Aim: This study compared functional brain connectivity patterns during resting state and imaginal exposure to obsession-provoking stimuli in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) characterized by harm-avoidance motivation.
 
Method: A within-subject descriptive-analytical design was used. Forty-five individuals with OCD were recruited from a counseling center in Kerman during 2023–2024 using purposive sampling. Participants completed standardized clinical assessments and underwent EEG recording during resting and imaginal exposure conditions. Data were analyzed using paired t-tests.
 
Results: Imaginal exposure was associated with increased delta and theta connectivity in frontal and fronto-central regions, and decreased alpha and beta connectivity across multiple intra- and interhemispheric regions compared to resting state (p < 0.01).
 
Conclusion: Imaginal exposure induces widespread alterations in functional connectivity across frequency bands. These findings support further subgroup-specific investigations of OCD neurophysiology.
Keywords
Functional Connections
Harm Avoidance
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Quantitative Electroencephalography
Subjects
Altuğlu, T. B., Metin, B., Taulay, E. E., Tan, O., Sayar, G. H., Tas, C., … & Tarhan, N. (2020). Prediction of treatment resistance in obsessive compulsive disorder patients based on EEG complexity as a biomarker. Clinical Neurophysiology, 131 (3): 716-724.
Arikan, M. K., Ilhan, R., Esmeray, T., Cetin, H. L., Aytar, E. K., Aktas, H., … & Tendler, A. (2022). Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation effects on the electrophysiological parameters in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Clinical EEG and Neuroscience, 53 (6): 484–490. 9.
Aydin, S., Arica, N., Ergul, E., & Tan, O. (2015). Classification of obsessive compulsive disorder by EEG complexity and hemispheric dependency measurements. International journal of neural systems, 25 (3): 1550010.
Bazanova, O. M., Vernon, D. (2014). Interpreting EEG alpha activity. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 44: 94–110.
Belloch, A., Fornés, G., Carrasco, A., López-Solá, C., Alonso, P., & Menchón, J. M. (2016). Incompleteness and not just right experiences in the explanation of Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder. Psychiatry Research, 236: 1-8.
Bragdon, L. B., & Coles, M. E. (2017). Examining heterogeneity of obsessive-compulsive disorder: Evidence for subgroups based on motivations. Journal of Anxiety Disorder, 45: 64–71.
Cameron, D. H., Summerfeldt, L. J., Rowa, K., McKinnon, M. C., Rector, N. A., Richter, M. A., … & McCabe, R. E. (2019). Differences in neuropsychological performance between incompleteness and harm avoidance-related core dimensions in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 22 (8): 100448.
Cervin, M., & Perrin, S. (2019). Measuring harm avoidance, incompleteness, and disgust in youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety disorders. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 22: 100442.
Choi, K. M., Kim, J. Y., Kim, Y. W., Han, J. W., Im, C. H., & Lee, SH. (2021). Comparative analysis of default mode networks in major psychiatric disorders using resting-state EEG. Scientific Reports, 11 (1): 1-10.
Demos, J. M. (2005). Getting Started with Neurofeedback. Davood Azarangi and Mahdieh Rahmanian (2020). Tehran: Danjeh Publications.
Desarkar, P., Sinha, V. K., Jagadheesan, K., & Nizamie, S. H. (2007). Subcortical functioning in obsessive-compulsive disorder: source and coherence analysis of EEG rhythms. Neuroimage, 49 (1): 977-983.
Dixon, M. L., Moodie, C. A., Goldin, P. R., Farb, N., Heimberg, R.G., & Gross, J. J. (2020). Emotion regulation in social anxiety disorder: Reapprasial and acceptance of negative self-beliefs. Biological Psychiatry Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 5 (1): 119-129.
Ecker, W., Gönner, S., & Wilm, K. (2011). Die Messung von Motivdimensionen der Zwangsstörung: Unvollständigkeitserleben und Schadensvermeidung [The measurement of motivational dimensions of OCD: incompleteness and harm avoidance]. Psychother Psychosom Med Psychol, 61 (2): 62-69.
Fettes, P., Schulze, L., & Downar, J. (2017). Cortico-Striatal-Thalamic Loop circuits of the Orbitofrontal Cortex: Promising therapeutic targets in psychiatric illness. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 27:  11-25.
Geffen, T., Smallwood, J., Finke, C., Olbrich, S., Sjoerds, Z., & Schlagenhauf, F. (2022). Functional connectivity alterations between default mode network and occipital cortex in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Neuroimage Clinical, 33: 102915.
Karapanagiotidis, T., Jefferies, E., & Smallwood, J. (2021). Interactions between the neural correlates of dispositional internally directed thought and visual imagery. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences, 376: 20190691.
Koh, M. J., Seol, J., Kang, J. I., Kim, B. S., Namkoong, K., Chang, J. W., & Kim, S. J. (2018). Altered resting-state functional connectivity in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder: A magnetoencephalography study. International Journal of Psychophysiology: Official Journal of the International Organization of Psychophysiology,123: 80–87.
Li, S., Xie, H., Zheng, Z., Chen, W., Xu, F., Hu, X., & Zhang, D. (2022). The causal role of the bilateral ventrolateral prefrontal cortices on emotion regulation of social feedback. Human Brain Mapping, 43 (9): 2898–2910.
Manzari, F., & Ghaderyan, P. (2022). Sparse Coding Classification and Analytic EEG Signal Representation for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Detection. Iranian Journal of Biomedical Engineering, 15(4): 313-328. [In Persian].
McKay, D., Abramowitz, J. S., Calamari, J. E., Kyrios, M., Radomsky, A., Sookman, D., … & Wilhelm, S. (2004). A critical evaluation of obsessive–Compulsive disorder subtypes: Symptoms versus mechanisms. Clinical Psychology Review, 24 (3): 283–313.   
Menzies, L., Chamberlain, S. R., Laird, A. R., Thelen, S. M., Sahakian, B.J., & Bullmore, E. T. (2008). Integrating evidence from neuroimaging and neuropsychological studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder: The orbitofronto-striatal model revisited. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 32 (3): 525–549.
Olbrich, S., Olbrich, H., Adamaszek, M., Jahn, I., Hegerl, U., & Stengler, K. (2013). Altered EEG lagged coherence during rest in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Clinical Neurophysiology, 124 (12): 2421-2430.
Perera, M. P. N., Bailey, N. W., Herring, S. E., & Fitzgerald, P. B. (2019). Electrophysiology of obsessive compulsive disorder: a systematic review of the electroencephalographic literature. Journal of Anxiety Disord, 62: 1–14.
Perera, M. P. N., Mallawaarachchi, S., Bailey, N. W., Murphy, O. W., & Fitzgerald, P. B. (2023). Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is associated with increased electroencephalogeraphic (EEG) delta and theta oscillatory power but reduced delta connectivity. Journal of Psychiatry Research, 163:  310-317.
Pourebrahimi, M. (2024). Investigating of Quantitative Electroencephalography (QEEG) Pattern of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder with harm avoidance motivation in imaginary exposure to obsession-provoking situation and emotion regulation strategies of cognitive reappraisal and acceptance. Doctoral thesis in clinical psychology, Shiraz University, Iran. [In Persian].
Pourebrahimi, M., Sarafraz, M. R., Hadianfard, H., & Mohammadi, N. (2024). Harm avoidance and incompleteness core motivations in obsessive-compulsive disorder: validation of the Farsi version of the Obsessive-Compulsive Trait Core Dimensions Questionnaire (F-OC-TCDQ) in Iran. BMC Psychology, 12: 552.
Radomsky, A. S., & Taylor, S. (2005). Subtyping OCD: Prospects and Problems. Behavior Therapy, 36 (4): 371-379.
Rajezi Esfahani, S., Motaghipour, Y., Kamkari, K., Zahiredin, A., & Janbozorgi, M. (2012). Reliability and validity of the Persian version of the Yale-Brown obsessive-compulsive scale (Y-BOCS). Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, 17(4): 297-303.  [In Persian].
Rappel, P., Marmor, O., Bick, A. S., Arkadir, D., Linetsky, E., Castrioto, A., … & Eitan, R. (2018). Subthalamic theta activity: a novel human subcortical biomarker for obsessive compulsive disorder. Translational Psychiatry, 8 (1): 118.
Rasmussen, S. A., Eisen, J. L., & Greenberg, B. D. (2013). Toward a neuroanatomy of obsessive-compulsive disorder revisited. Biological Psychiatry, 73: 298–299.
Ravindran, A., Richter, M., Jain, T., Ravindran, L., Rector, N., & Farb, N. (2020). Functional connectivity in obsessive-compulsive disorder and its subtypes. Psychological Medicine, 50 (7): 1173-1181.
Stern, E. R., Goodman, W. K., Taylor, S. F., Abelson, J. L., Goodman, W. K., & Muratore, A. F. (2017).  Switching between internally and externally focused attention in obsessivecompulsive disorder: abnormal visual cortex activation and connectivity. Psychiatry Research, 265: 87–97.
Summerfeldt, L. J., Kloosterman, P. H., Antony, M., & Swinson, R. P. (2014). Examining an obsessive-compulsive core dimensions model: Structuralvalidity of harm avoidance and incompleteness. Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, 3 (2): 83–94.
Tan, B., Yan, J., Zhang, J., Jin, Z., & Li, L. (2022). Aberrant Whole-Brain Resting-State Functional Connectivity Architecture in ObsessiveCompulsive Disorder: An EEG Study. IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 30: 1887-1897.
Velikova, S., Locatelli, M., Insacco, C., Smeraldi, E., Comi, G., & Leocani, L. (2010). Dysfunctional brain circuitry in obsessive–compulsive disorder: source and coherence analysis of EEG rhythms. Neuroimage, 49 (1): 977–983.
Voon, V., Droux, F., Morris, L., Chabardes, S., Bougerol, T., David, O., & Krack, P. (2017). Decisional impulsivity and the associative-limbic subthalamic nucleus in obsessive-compulsive disorder: stimulation and connectivity. Brain, 140 (2): 442-456.
Wilson, K. A., & Chambless, D. L. (1999). Inflated perceptions of responsibility and obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 37 (4): 325–335. 
Yazdi-Ravandi, S., Akhavanpour, H., Shamsaei, F., Matinnia, N., Ahmadpanah, M., Ghaleiha, A., & Khosrowabadi, R. (2018). Differential pattern of brain functional connectome on obsessive-compulsive disorder versus healthy controls. EXCLI Journal, 8 (17): 1090-1100.
Zhang, Y., Chen, Y., Bressler, S. L., & Ding, M. (2008). Response preparation and inhibition: The role of the cortical sensorimotor beta rhythm. Neuroscience, 156 (1): 238–246.