Resting-state burst features within alpha and beta oscillations are differentially associated with autogenous and reactive obsessions.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a heterogenous chronic psychiatric illness which significantly impacts quality of life. The aim of the current study was to investigate the distinct associations of trial-by-trial, high-power, transient burst-like oscillatory events within the autogenous-reactive obsessions (AO-RO) subtype taxonomy to further characterize the neural underpinnings of heterogenous obsessive-compulsive symptom profiles. An analogue sample of 83 young adults completed 5 min of eyes-closed resting-state EEG. The rate, power, duration, and frequency-span of transient oscillatory bursts were calculated within each frequency band (i.e., delta/theta, alpha, beta) for 19 electrodes across the scalp. The severity of AO and RO, as primary outcome measures, was indexed using the Revised Obsessive Intrusion Inventory (ROII). Greater AO severity was primarily associated with longer alpha burst duration in the left occipital region, whereas greater RO severity was primarily associated with an increased rate of beta bursts in the right parietal region. This suggests that during rest AO is more strongly associated with a neural index of overactive attentional control for unwanted stimuli (i.e., relating to internally unprovoked mental intrusions eliciting internal conflict), whereas RO is more strongly associated with a neural index of overactive motor initiation (i.e., relating to externally provoked mental intrusions eliciting a motor response). The results of the current study provide novel insight into the neural underpinnings of the AO-RO taxonomy which may assist in characterizing the heterogeneity seen throughout OCD.