Neural circuits in goal-directed and habitual behavior: Implications for circuit dysfunction in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Goal-directed and habitual actions are essential for normal functioning in everyday life. Goal-directed behaviors are actions that are executed to achieve specific goals. With repetition, such as a daily routine, these goal directed actions become automatized and habitual. However, these useful behaviors can become aberrant, manifesting as key symptoms in several psychiatric disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). A comprehensive understanding of the neural circuits underlying both aberrant and non-pathological goal-directed and habitual behaviors can lead to improved treatments for OCD. Here we review the preclinical research that has advanced our understanding of the brain structures that control goal-directed and habitual behavior and discuss their relationships to the pathophysiology of OCD.