Differential gene expression in thalamic postmortem tissue of subjects with obsessive compulsive disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a severe psychiatric illness associated with hyperactivity and hyperconnectivity in corticostriatalthalamocortical circuits of the prefrontal cortex. We previously identified dysregulated mRNA expression in the medial orbitofrontal cortex and striatum of subjects with OCD, affecting a wide range of processes and cell types. The purpose of this study was to examine OCD-related differential expression in the thalamus, using a postmortem cohort of 10 subjects with OCD and 11 unaffected comparison subjects. Tissue was collected from four higher-order thalamic nuclei: the mediodorsal magnocellular (MDmc), mediodorsal parvocellular (MDpc), ventral anterior (VA), and ventrolateral posterior (VLp) nuclei.