Udgivet den 20. december 2006 |
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OCD is thought to spring from a malfunction in neurological circuitry that can be seen on MRI images: when a person with OCD engages in obsessive thoughts, certain areas of the brain light up more than they would in a normal person, a sign of heightened activity. The disorder may be an exaggeration of normal behaviors that enhance survival, behaviors that evolution hard-wired into the human brain -- watching for predators, checking to make sure the fire is out, protecting children, avoiding disease. But with OCD something goes awry in the brain pathways that control these functions. The alarm signals of fear ("Make sure the door is locked!") can't be quieted by assurances from the rational brain ("I checked. The door is locked."). So the OCD sufferer, even though he knows he locked the door, still feels that something is wrong, that he must keep checking.
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