条件线索对强迫行为习得的影响机制

Compulsive behaviors are core symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Up to now, researchers have made many attempts to investigate the neural and psychological substrates of compulsive behaviors. It is generally acknowledged that the acquisition of compulsive behavior is related to dual behavioral learning systems, namely the goal-directed and habitual systems. However, previous studies mainly focused on the specific changes within the dual behavioral learning systems in patients with OCD, while ignoring the influence of cued conditioning on the dual behavioral learning systems during the acquisition of compulsive behaviors. To overcome those limitations, the present project is intended to combine functional magnetic resonance imaging technology and the goal-directed/habit training paradigm to investigate the following three questions: 1) To explore how cue conditioning affects the neural correlates of goal-directed and habit learning systems in patients with OCD; 2) To explore whether there are similar behavioral learning and brain activation patterns among patients with OCD and their unaffected siblings; and 3) To test whether cue conditioning predicts treatment outcome in patients with OCD. The results of this project will provide a new direction in understanding OCD by systematically revealing the core neural mechanisms underlying OCD, and will also provide a theoretical basis for exploring targeted treatment, which will serve as a bridge between potential psychopathological and neurobiological process in OCD.

强迫行为是强迫症患者最核心的外显临床表现。一直以来，研究者在探究强迫行为习得的神经机制方面进行了很多尝试，近年来，人们较为一致认为强迫行为的习得主要与目标导向和习惯两个行为学习系统密切相关，但是已有研究多数只孤立考察了强迫症患者的这两个行为学习系统的特异性改变，而忽略了强迫行为习得过程中条件线索对这两个行为学习系统的影响。为了克服已有研究的局限，本项目拟结合功能磁共振技术和基于目标导向-习惯的行为学习范式，探讨如下三个问题：1）不同条件线索对强迫症患者的目标导向和习惯的行为学习系统的影响；2）不同条件线索下，强迫症患者及其未患病同胞是否存在相似的行为学习模式；3）不同条件线索对强迫症患者治疗前后强迫症状转归的预测作用。对上述问题的探讨为系统地揭示强迫症的核心神经机制提供了新的积极方向，也为探寻更有针对性的治疗手段提供理论依据，将成为强迫症病因学和潜在的神经生物学之间建立联系的重要桥梁。

近年来，人们较为一致认为强迫行为的习得主要与目标导向和习惯两个行为学习系统失衡有密切相关，本项目结合功能磁共振技术和基于目标导向-习惯的行为学习认知行为范式探讨如下三个问题：1）不同条件线索对强迫症患者的目标导向和习惯的行为学习系统的影响；2）不同条件线索下，强迫症患者及其未患病同胞是否存在相似的行为学习模式；3）不同条件线索对强迫症患者治疗前后强迫症状转归的预测作用。我们结果发现1）强迫症患者在完成巴普洛夫-操作条件转移（PIT）任务时其PIT效应减弱，其原因可能在于他们利用线索所提供的上下文信息的能力受到损害，因此难以适当地调节自身行为，在消极线索呈现需抑制响应时更是如此；2）强迫症患者与一级亲属存在尾状核连接强度显著增加的特征，两者存在类似的行为学习模式。3）治疗前后强迫症患者双系统脑功能网络存在失衡（未校正）。通过该项目我们较系统探讨了强迫症患者双学习系统相关的神经机制。这为未来对强迫行为习得机制的研究提供了新的视野，为强迫症治疗方案的探索提供了多方面的理论依据。