AbstractPositron emission tomography (PET) cerebral glucose metabolic studies of major depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to date are in agreement that major depressions are accompanied by decreased indices of glucose metabolic function in the lateral prefrontal cortex, while in OCD increased metabolic activity has been demonstrated consistently in the orbital cortex. Striatal abnormalities have also been reported for both OCD and major depression, but there is less agreement among studies. There is as yet no clear consensus on whether the preforntal abnormalities seen in depression and OCD are trait or state abnormalities, nor is there a clear picture as to which symptoms of these illnesses may be mediated by these dysfunctional brain regions. New experimental paradigms and studies employing neuroreceptor ligands are needed to help understand the significance of prefrontal cortex dysfunction in OCD and major depression.
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Lewis Baxter (1991) studied this question.