Pineal gland volumes are changed in patients with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder

Exploration of the white matter bundles connected to the pineal gland: A DTI study

PURPOSE

Pineal gland (PG) is a structure located in the midline of the brain, and is considered as a main part of the epithalamus. There are reports on the role of this area for brain function by hormone secretion, as well as few reports on its role in brain cognition. However, little knowledge is available on the PG, and in particular on the structural connectivity of this region with the other brain structures.

METHODS

Using diffusion-weighted images collected by a 3T MRI scanner, and using a sample of 61 (29 F) mentally and physically healthy young individuals in the age range of 20-30 years old, we tried to extract the white matter bundles connected to the PG. Based on prior knowledge, seven target bundles were suggested to be between the PG body and the PG roots, Pons, Periventricular region, thalamus, caudate, lentiform, suprachiasmatic nuclei, and the supercervical ganglia.

RESULTS

Nearly all the target bundles were successfully extracted, with the exception of the lentiform. Rate of identification of the tracts was different, with the bundle between the PG body and roots having the highest identification rate (97%); then it was with the Pons (70%), Periventricular region (57%), SCN (55%), left thalamus (52%), right thalamus (47%), left caudate (27%) and right caudate (22%).

CONCLUSION

This study is an attempt to expand our knowledge on the neuroanatomy of the PG, which might help for identifying further roles for it in brain functionality, and also be a help for the treatment of some disorders in the future.

The neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

A number of recent investigations have focused on the neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD). However, there have been few reviews of this literature with no detailed model proposed. We therefore undertook a systematic review of these investigations, aiming to map the available evidence and investigate whether it is possible to formulate a detailed model of the neurobiology of OCPD.

METHODS

OCPD can be considered from both categorical and dimensional perspectives. An electronic search was therefore conducted using terms that would address not only OCPD as a category, but also related constructs, such as perfectionism, that would capture research on neuropsychology, neuroimaging, neurochemistry, and neurogenetics.

RESULTS

A total of 1059 articles were retrieved, with 87 ultimately selected for abstract screening, resulting in a final selection of 49 articles focusing on neurobiological investigations relevant to OCPD. Impaired executive function and cognitive inflexibility are common neuropsychological traits in this condition, and suggest that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and OCPD may lie on a continuum. However, neuroimaging studies in OCPD indicate the involvement of specific neurocircuitry, including the precuneus and amygdala, and so suggest that OCD and OCPD may have important differences. Although OCPD has a heritable component, we found no well-powered genetic studies of OCPD.

CONCLUSION

Although knowledge in this area has advanced, there are insufficient data on which to base a comprehensive model of the neurobiology of OCPD. Given the clinical importance of OCPD, further work to understand the mechanisms that underpin this condition is warranted.

Features of Cognitive and Emotional Sphere of a Teenager with Epiphysis Pathology and Concomitant Speech Disorder: An Analysis of a Single Case

<p style="text-align: justify;">The study of the features of cognitive impairments in various cerebral organic pathologies allows us to understand the role of individual structures of the brain in the implementation of mental activity and determine the appropriate ways of providing psychological assistance to patients. In a situation of rare pathology, the analysis of individual clinical cases is useful. The aim of this research was to study the state of cognitive functions in a 13-year-old male teenager with a cystic restructuring of the pineal gland and concomitant undifferentiated impairment of expressive speech. Changes in the epiphysis were detected in the patient in less than a month before this psychological study. During the examination, methods of pathopsychological and neuropsychological diagnostics, and projective graphic tests were used. In the course of neuropsychological research on a teenager, a violation of the ability to compose a syllabic kinetic scheme of utterance and, in general, a lack of dynamic and kinesthetic praxis, as well as interhemispheric interaction and auditory-speech memory were revealed. The main ways of providing psychological assistance to the patient were identified: neuropsychological correction aimed at restoring impaired speech function based on preserved higher mental functions, and restoration of the communicative function of speech. The obtained results of psychological research require further understanding and verification, primarily in order to understand the pathogenesis of cognitive disorders in the situation of cystic pineal gland rearrangement.</p>

A Probabilistic Atlas of the Pineal Gland in the Standard Space

Pineal gland (PG) is a structure located in the midline of the brain, and is considered as a main part of the epithalamus. There are numerous reports on the facilitatory role of this area for brain function; hormone secretion and its role in sleep cycle are the major reports. However, reports are rarely available on the direct role of this structure in brain cognition and in information processing. A suggestion for the limited number of such studies is the lack of a standard atlas for the PG; none of the available MRI templates and atlases has provided parcellations for this structure. In this study, we used the three-dimensional (3D) T1-weighted MRI data of 152 healthy young volunteers, and provided a probabilistic map of the PG in the standard Montreal Neurologic Institute (MNI) space. The methods included collecting the data using a 64-channel head coil on a 3-Tesla Prisma MRI Scanner, manual delineation of the PG by two experts, and robust template and atlas construction algorithms. This atlas is freely accessible, and we hope importing this atlas in the well-known neuroimaging software packages would help to identify other probable roles of the PG in brain function. It could also be used to study pineal cysts, for volumetric analyses, and to test any associations between the cognitive abilities of the human and the structure of the PG.