Psychologists originally thought that hoarding was related to obsessive-compulsive disorder, but after further research and treatment it has shown that the two disorders are more different than alike (Tolin). David Tolin, the director of anxiety disorders at the mental health center “The Institute of Living”, and his colleagues wanted to understand what went through the brain of a hoarder. They used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study the brain activity of 43 individuals who were considered hoarders. Each test subject was asked to make decisions regarding keeping items or throwing them away. The fMRI measures blood flow to the brain allowing the researchers to see which parts of the brain are more active than others when given …show more content…
The researchers then showed each of the participant’s images of the junk mail while in the brain scanner as well as mixed in pieces of similar mail that belonged to the research lab. Before each participant saw the photo of the mail they were told whether it was theirs or the lab’s and were asked if the researcher’s should keep the mail, shred it, or give it back to the participants. Expected, the hoarding group that was tested discarded the fewest pieces of junk and showed the most anxiety, sadness, and indecisiveness while doing so compared to the other two groups. The brains of the hoarders provided the researchers with interesting information. When asked to make a decision about their own junk mail, there was a noticeable spike in activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and the left insular cortex. The insular cortex is the part of the brain that sits next to each side of the head, located deep in one of the organ’s surface wrinkles. The anterior cingulate cortex is located in the front of the brain. Having to make decisions about their own junk mail pushed these two regions in each of the hoarder’s brain into overdrive. Similarly, the insular cortex on the right side of the brain showed more activity when the hoarders saw images of their own mail compared to when they saw the lab’s mail. The healthy and OCD participants did not experience these brain differences. According to Tolin, “together the insular and anterior cingulate create a network that help people decide how relevant and important things are”. In order to make a good decision, a certain amount of each activity is necessary; too little and you lack attention and are considered under-stimulated, but too much and you become overwhelmed. This is exactly what happened to the hoarders throughout this experiment, they are seen as under-stimulated when confronted by the large amounts of