Global functional connectivity dynamic associated with resistance to obsessions and compulsions in children and adolescents with OCD

• Grant number: 24/14740-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2025
• End date: September 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Claudinei Eduardo Biazoli Junior
• Grantee: Gabriel Willian Reis Suniga
• Host Institution: Centro de Matemática, Computação e Cognição (CMCC). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Obsessions (intrusive thoughts, for example) and compulsive behaviors are the main symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). The degree of resistance and control of obsessive and compulsive symptoms is a relevant clinical criterion for assessing OCD's severity. The main severity scale for this disorder, the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), includes questions that measure the individual's resistance to and control over the symptoms. Recently, the metastability of brain activity, which can be measured using resting state fMRI data, has been explored as a possible marker of cognitive states related to executive function and cognitive flexibility. This project aims to evaluate the hypothesised relationship between the degree of resistance and control of OCD symptoms with metastability signatures calculated on rs-fMRI data. To this end, a previously collected database of individuals with OCD that includes resting state fMRI data will be used. Multivariate linear regression models will be used with cerebral metastability signatures as the main predictor and the score in the resistance and control categories of the Y-BOCS as the outcome. A power analysis shows that the sample size is sufficient to test the hypothesis of an association between cerebral metastability and resistance to obsessive and compulsive symptoms. (AU)