Regional brain volumes and symptom severity in body dysmorphic disorder

Feusner, Jamie D.; Townsend, Jennifer; Bystritsky, Alexander; McKinley, Malin; Moller, Hayley; Bookheimer, Susan

doi:10.1016/j.pscychresns.2008.12.003

« Previous Next »Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging
Volume 172, Issue 2 , Pages 161-167, 15 May 2009

Regional brain volumes and symptom severity in body dysmorphic disorder

Jamie D. Feusner
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
- Corresponding author. 300 UCLA Medical Plaza, Suite 2200, Los Angeles, CA 90095, United States. Tel.: +1 310 206 4951; fax: +1 323 443 3593.
Jennifer Townsend
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States
Alexander Bystritsky
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
Malin McKinley
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
Hayley Moller
- Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, United States
Susan Bookheimer
- Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Received 13 August 2008; received in revised form 22 November 2008; accepted 18 December 2008.

Abstract

Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) is a severe psychiatric condition in which individuals are preoccupied with perceived defects in their appearance. Little is known of the pathophysiology or neurobiology of BDD. Recent evidence from a functional MRI study examining visual processing of faces demonstrated abnormal activation patterns in regions including left-sided inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and amygdala. To investigate morphometric abnormalities, we compared brain volumes from high-resolution T1 magnetic resonance images of 12 unmedicated subjects with BDD to images of 12 matched controls using voxel-based morphometry (VBM). In addition, we compared volumes in specific regions of interest including the IFG, amygdala, caudate, and total grey and white matter and examined correlations with symptom severity. VBM revealed no statistically significant volumetric differences, nor were there significant differences in any of the regions of interest. However, there were significant positive correlations between scores on the BDD version of the Yale–Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder Scale (BDD-YBOCS) and volumes of the left IFG (r=0.69) and the right amygdala (r=0.54). These findings of correlations between BDD symptom severity and volumes of the left IFG and the right amygdala. These are in concordance with the involvement of these regions in pathological face processing, which may contribute to the primary symptomatology.