Serotonin in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a causal connection or more monomania about a major monoamine?
Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) has been implicated in a number of psychiatric syndromes, but it is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that currently provides the most compelling evidence of a connection between serotonin and psychopathology. The precise nature of this connection remains unclear — in spite of strong evidence implicating serotonin in the treatment of OCD, there is a lack of a clear model of serotonergic dysfunction to explain the pathophysiology of this syndrome. This chapter reviews the current literature about serotonin and OCD to examine two questions: do OCD patients have an abnormality in serotonergic neurotransmission and, if so, what is the nature of this abnormality?
Keywords: obsessive-compulsive disorder, serotonin, sychopathology, serotonergic dysfunction, pathophysiology, serotonergic neurotransmission
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