The fronto-limbic circuit includes subcortical and cortical brain regions involved in generating (amygdala) and evaluating (ventromedial prefrontal cortex, vmPFC) emotional responses (Figure 2) [16, 35] amongst other functions. The circuit also connects to cortical regions involved in top-down behavioral control, including dorsolateral and dorsomedial prefrontal (dlPFC/dmPFC) regions of the dorsal cognitive circuit (Figure 1), for emotion regulation [16, 35]. Dysfunctional activity in the fronto-limbic circuit during emotional processing is a robust finding in OCD [36]. Below, we consider evidence for two specific neurocognitive alterations associated with fronto-limbic dysfunction that may be particularly relevant to OCD.
