ABSTRACT
The name, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), comes from the hallmark signs and symptoms of the disease, which affect both cognition and motor behavior obsessions, thoughts that repeat over and over again, unwanted but insistent; and compulsions to act, to repeat fragments of behavior over and over in ritualistic, stereotyped succession. In people who suffer from OCD, such “habits,” “mannerisms,” and “rituals” are out of control. Patients with OCD often suffer from other anxiety disorders, including major depressive disorder, which has a lifetime prevalence of 60%—70% in OCD patients. Lesions involving the orbitofrontal cortex in humans lead to deficits in behavioral planning and decision making based on estimates of the positive or negative consequences of particular actions.
