The British Journal of Psychiatry (2008) 193: 216-221. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.107.048314
© 2008 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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Grey matter abnormalities in trichotillomania: morphometric magnetic resonance imaging study

Samuel R. Chamberlain, PhD

Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, UK;

Lara A. Menzies, PhD

Brain Mapping Unit, University of Cambridge, and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge;

Naomi A. Fineberg, MD and Natalia del Campo, MA

Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge;

John Suckling, PhD

Brain Mapping Unit, University of Cambridge, and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge;

Kevin Craig, MD and Ulrich Müller, MD PhD

Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge;

Trevor W. Robbins, PhD

Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge;

Edward T. Bullmore

Brain Mapping Unit, University of Cambridge, and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge;

Barbara J. Sahakian

Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, UK

Correspondence: Samuel R. Chamberlain, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Box 189, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK. Email: srchamb{at}gmail.com

Declaration of interest

None. Funding detailed in Acknowledgements.

Background

Trichotillomania (repetitive hair-pulling) is an Axis I psychiatric disorder whose neurobiological basis is incompletely understood. Whole-brain trichotillomania neuroimaging studies are lacking.

Aims

To investigate grey and white matter abnormalities over the whole brain in patients with trichotillomania.

Method

Eighteen patients with DSM–IV trichotillomania and 19 healthy controls undertook structural magnetic resonance imaging after providing written informed consent. Differences in grey and white matter were investigated using computational morphometry.

Results

Patients with trichotillomania showed increased grey matter densities in the left striatum, left amygdalo-hippocampal formation, and multiple (including cingulate, supplementary motor, and frontal) cortical regions bilaterally.

Conclusions

Trichotillomania was associated with structural grey matter changes in neural circuitry implicated in habit learning, cognition and affect regulation. These findings inform animal models of the disorder and highlight key regions of interest for future translational research.


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