A Comparison of Neurocognitive Functions in Adults Diagnosed With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Healthy Volunteers

The aim of the study was to evaluation of neuropsychological areas to determine whether or not there were cognitive differences and whether the impairment was in a specific form in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients compared to healthy control subjects. The sample comprised 30 patients aged 16-65 years diagnosed with OCD, and a control group of 30 age and gender-matched healthy volunteers. According to the DSM diagnostic criteria, various neurocognitive tests were applied to the patients diagnosed with OCD. A statistically significant difference was determined between the two groups in respect of the WCST scores. No statistically significant difference was determined between the groups in respect of the Forward, Reverse, or total Digit Span Test values. WAIS-R; The results of this test were determined as a mean of 43.1 ± 15.4 in the OCD group and 56.2 ± 6.8 in the control group, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant. When the groups were examined in terms of interference errors, the value of 2.2 ± 2.8 in the OCD group was determined to be statistically significantly greater than the 0.8 ± 0.8 value of the control group. A statistically significant difference was determined between the groups in respect of the mean words counted with perseverance by the OCD group (1.7 ± 2.1) and the control group (0.6 ± 0.8). It can be said that combining cognitive function impairments specific to OCD with neuroimaging studies would be useful in understanding OCD symptoms in more detail. Thus, new treatment strategies could be developed.

A Comparison of Neurocognitive Functions in Adults Diagnosed With Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Healthy Volunteers

The aim of the study was to evaluation of neuropsychological areas to determine whether or not there were cognitive differences and whether the impairment was in a specific form in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients compared to healthy control subjects. The sample comprised 30 patients aged 16-65 years diagnosed with OCD, and a control group of 30 age and gender-matched healthy volunteers. According to the DSM diagnostic criteria, various neurocognitive tests were applied to the patients diagnosed with OCD. A statistically significant difference was determined between the two groups in respect of the WCST scores. No statistically significant difference was determined between the groups in respect of the Forward, Reverse, or total Digit Span Test values. WAIS-R; The results of this test were determined as a mean of 43.1 ± 15.4 in the OCD group and 56.2 ± 6.8 in the control group, and the difference between the groups was statistically significant. When the groups were examined in terms of interference errors, the value of 2.2 ± 2.8 in the OCD group was determined to be statistically significantly greater than the 0.8 ± 0.8 value of the control group. A statistically significant difference was determined between the groups in respect of the mean words counted with perseverance by the OCD group (1.7 ± 2.1) and the control group (0.6 ± 0.8). It can be said that combining cognitive function impairments specific to OCD with neuroimaging studies would be useful in understanding OCD symptoms in more detail. Thus, new treatment strategies could be developed.

___

  • Ayçiçeği A, Dinn WM, Harris CL, Erkmen H. 2003. Neuropsychological function in obsessive compulsive disorder: Effects of comorbid conditions on task performance. Eur Psychiatry 18: 241-248.
  • Basso MR, Bornstein RA, Carona F, Morton R. 2001. Depression accounts for executive function deficits in obsessive compulsive disorder. Neuropsychiatry Neuropsychol Behav Neurol. 14: 241-245.
  • Boone KB, Ananth J, Philpott L, Amrit K, Armen D. 1991. Neuropsychological characteristics of non-depressed adults with obsessive–compulsive disorder. Neuropsychiatry Neuropsychol Behav Neurol. 4: 96-109.
  • Choi J, Kang D, Kim JJ, Ha TH, Lee JM, Youn T, Kim IY, Kim S, Kwon JS. 2004. Left anterior subregion of orbitofrontal cortex volume reduction and impaired organizational strategies in obsessive compulsive disorder. J Psychiatr Res. 38: 193-199.
  • Chudasama Y, Robbins TW. 2006. Functions of frontostriatal systems in cognition: comparative neuropsychopharmacological studies in rats, monkeys and humans. Biol Psychol. 73: 19–38.
  • Cohen LJ, Hollander E, DeCaria CM, Stein DJ, Simeon D, Liebowitz MR, Aronowitz BR. 1996. Specificity of neuropsychological impairment in obsessive compulsive disorder: a comparison with social phobic and normal control subjects. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 8: 82-85.
  • Crowe SF. 1992. Dissociation of two frontal lobe syndromes by a test of verbal fluency. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 14: 327-339.
  • Deckersbach T, Otto MW, Savage CR, Baer L, Jenike MA. 2000. The relationship between semantic organization and memory in obsessive- compulsive disorder. Psychother Psychosom. 69: 101-107.
  • Del Casale A, Kotzalidis GD, Rapinesi C, Serata D, Ambrosi E, Simonetti A, Pompili M, Ferracuti S, Tatarelli R, Girardi P. 2011. Functional neuroimaging in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Neuropsychobiology. 64: 61-85.
  • Evans DW, Lewis MD, Iobst E. 2004. The role of the orbitofrontal cortex in normally developing compulsive-like behaviours and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Brain Cogn. 55: 220-234.
  • Foa EB, Amir N, Gershuny B, Molnar C, Kozak MJ. 1997. Implicit and explicit memory in Obsessive compulsive disorder. J Anxiety Disord. 11: 119-129.
  • Kang D-H, Kwon JS, Kim J-J, Youn T, Park H-J, Kim MS, Lee DS, Lee MC. 2003. Brain glucose metabolic changes associated with neuropsychological improvements after 4 months of treatment in patients with obsessivecompulsive disorder. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 107: 291-297.
  • Kim MS, Park SJ, Shin MS, Kwon JS. 2002. Neuropsychological profile in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder over a period of 4-month treatment. J Psychiatr Res. 36: 257-265.
  • Kıvırcık BB, Yener GG, Alptekin K, Aydin H. 2003. Event related potentials and neuropsychological tests in obsessive compulsive disorder. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 27: 601-606.
  • Kuelz AK, Hohagen F, Voderholzer U. 2004. Neuropsychological performance in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a critical review. Biol Psychol. 65: 185-236.
  • Kwon JS, Kim JJ, Lee DW, Lee JS, Lee DS, Kim MS, Lyoo IK, Cho MJ, Lee MC. . 2003. Neural correlates of clinical symptoms and cognitive dysfunctions in obsessive compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Res. 122: 37-47.
  • Martin A, Wiggs CL, Altemus M, Rubenstein C, Murphy DL. 1995. Working memory as assessed by subject-ordered tasks in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. J Clin Exp Neuropsychol. 17: 786-792.
  • Martinot JL, Allilaire JF, Mazoyer BM, Hantouche J, Huret D, Demare FL, Deslauriers AG, Hardy P, Pappata J, Baron JC, Syrota A. 1990. Obsessivecompulsive disorder: a clinical, neuropsychological and positron emission tomography study. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 82: 233-242.
  • Mataix-Cols D, Alonso P, Pifarre J, Menchon JM, Vallejo J. 2002. Neuropsychological performance in medicated vs. unmedicated patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Res. 109: 255-264.
  • Mataix-Cols D, Junque C, Sanchez-Turet M, Vallejo J, Verger K, Barrios M. 1999. Neuropsychological functioning in a subclinical obsessive-compulsive sample. Biol Psychiatry. 45: 898-904.
  • Moritz S, Birkner C, Kloss M, Jahn H, Hand I, Haasen C, Krausz M. 2002. Executive functioning in obsessive-compulsive disorder, unipolar depression and schizophrenia. Arch Clin Neuropsychol. 17: 477-483.
  • Okasha A, Rafaat M, Mahallawy N, Nahas GE, Dawla AS, Sayed M, Kholi SE. 2000. Cognitive dysfunction in obsessive–compulsive disorder. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica. 101: 281-285.
  • Penadés R, Catalán R, Rubia K. 2007. Impaired response inhibition in obsessive compulsive disorder. Eur Psychiatry. 22: 404-10.
  • Purcell R, Maruf P, Kyrios M, Pantelis C. 1998. Neuropsychological deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder A comparison with unipolar depression, panic disorder and normal controls. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 55: 415-423.
  • Savage CR, Baer L, Keuthen NJ, Brown HD, Rauch SL, Jenike MA. 1999. Organizational strategies mediate nonverbal memory impairment in obsessivecompulsive disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 45: 905-916.
  • Savage CR, Deckersbach T, Wilhelm S, Rauch SL, Baer L, Reid T, Jenike MA. 2000. Strategic processing and episodic memory impairment in obsessive compulsive disorder. Neuropsychology, 14: 141-151.
  • Sawamura K, Nakashima Y, Inoue M, Kurita H. 2005. Short-term verbal memory deficits in patients with obssesive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Clin Neurosc. 59: 527-532.
  • Schmidtke K, Schorb A, Winkelmann G, Hohagen F. 1998. Cognitive frontal lobe dysfunction in obsessive compulsive disorder. Biological Psychiatry. 43: 666-673.
  • Siviero MO, Rysovas EO, Juliano Y, Porto JAD, Berolucci PHF. 2002. Eye-hand preference dissociation in obsessive compulsive disorder and dislexia. Arq Neuropsiquatr. 60: 242-245.
  • Tolin DF, Abramowitz JS, Brigidi BD, Amir N, Street GP, Foa EB. 2001. Memory and memory confidence in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behav Res Ther. 39: 913-927.
  • Yalçın Ö, Şener Ş, Sarıpınar EG, Soysal AŞ, Güney E, Akın BS, İşeri. 2012. Çocuk ve ergen obsesif-kompulsif bozukluk hastalarının bilişsel işlevlerinin kontrol grubuyla karşılaştırılması: geniş katılımlı nöropsikolojik bir çalışma. Nöropsikiyatri Arşivi. 49: 119-128.
  • Zielinski CM, Taylor MA, Juzwin KR. 1991. Neuropsychological deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Neuropsychiatry Neuropsychol Behav Neurol. 4: 110-116.