This article reviews the main clinical indicators linking the basal nuclei to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Various pathologies associated with lesions of the basal nuclei are examined, followed by a review of neuropharmacological, brain imaging and psychosurgical studies. Once the role of the neostriatum in ritualistic behaviours has been clarified, the symptoms of OCD are interpreted based on the hypothesis of a lesion of the striato-orbito-frontal loop.
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