SynthesisJournal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN2026
Circuit-based neuromodulation for obsessive-compulsive disorder: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and translational case study.
Synthesis in Journal of psychiatry & neuroscience : JPN, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Patient-specific structural connectomic differences of deep brain stimulation targets in treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder patients.Translational psychiatry · 2026Observational
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Authors and funding
11 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundObsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) remains refractory to conventional pharmacological and psychotherapeutic treatments in a substantial proportion of patients. Neuromodulation has emerged as a promising intervention, but optimal neural circuit targets remain unclear. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy of invasive and non-invasive neuromodulation for OCD using a circuit-based framework and to translate these findings into clinical practice.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials investigating neuromodulation for OCD. PubMed/MEDLINE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched from database inception to December 2023. Eligible studies included adult patients with a primary diagnosis of OCD receiving invasive or non-invasive neuromodulation, with symptom outcomes assessed using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS). Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias 2.0 tool. Random- or fixed-effects meta-analyses were performed using mean differences or standardized mean differences, depending on heterogeneity. The review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42024518326).
resultsTwenty-seven randomized controlled trials involving 868 patients met inclusion criteria. Overall, neuromodulation significantly reduced OCD symptoms compared with control conditions. Circuit-based subgroup analyses indicated that modulation of the fronto-limbic circuit-primarily via invasive deep brain stimulation-was associated with the largest and most consistent Y-BOCS improvements, while sensorimotor, dorsal cognitive, and ventral affective circuits also demonstrated significant but more heterogeneous effects. Invasive neuromodulation showed greater efficacy than non-invasive approaches. These findings informed a translational multi-target deep brain stimulation case, demonstrating clinically meaningful symptom improvement (Y-BOCS decreased from 25 to 16 after 6 months). LIMITATIONS: Heterogeneity across non-invasive studies, short follow-up durations, and limited circuit-specific data constrain interpretation of long-term and symptom-domain-specific effects.
conclusionsThis systematic review, meta-analysis, and case study suggest that circuit-based neuromodulation-particularly targeting the fronto-limbic circuit-may offer the most consistent benefit for treatment-refractory OCD. Larger, longer-term, and circuit-informed trials are needed to optimize individualized neuromodulation strategies.
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