scholarly journals The effects of acute serotonin challenge on executive planning in patients with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), their first-degree relatives, and healthy controls

2020 ◽  
Vol 237 (10) ◽  
pp. 3117-3123
Author(s):  
Christine Lochner ◽  
Samuel R. Chamberlain ◽  
Martin Kidd ◽  
Lian Taljaard ◽  
Naomi A. Fineberg ◽  
...  
BJPsych Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Heinzel ◽  
Katharina Bey ◽  
Rosa Grützmann ◽  
Julia Klawohn ◽  
Christian Kaufmann ◽  
...  

Summary Studies have shown that people with obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) have impairments in spatial working memory (SWM) performance. However, it remains unclear whether this deficit represents a cognitive endophenotype preceding symptoms or a correlate of OCD. We investigated SWM in 69 people with OCD, 77 unaffected first-degree relatives of people with OCD and 106 healthy control participants. Taking age effects into account, SWM performance was best in healthy controls, intermediate in relatives and worst in OCD participants. However, since performance did not differ significantly between healthy controls and relatives, our study does not fully support SWM performance as a core cognitive endophenotype of OCD.


2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Delorme ◽  
Véronique Goussé ◽  
Isabelle Roy ◽  
Anca Trandafir ◽  
Flavie Mathieu ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundExecutive dysfunctions have been studied as a potential endophenotype associated with the genetic basis of autism. Given that recent findings from clinical and molecular genetic studies suggest that autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) could share a common pattern of heritability, we assessed executive functions as a possible common cognitive endophenotype in unaffected family members of individuals with either autism or OCD.MethodsFive tests assessing executive functions (Tower of London, verbal fluency, design fluency, trail making and association fluency) were proposed to 58 unaffected first-degree relatives (parents and siblings) of probands with autism and 64 unaffected first-degree relatives of OCD patients. Results were compared with those of 47 healthy controls matched for age, sex, and level of education.ResultsIn the Tower of London test, both groups of unaffected relatives showed significantly lower scores and longer response times compared with controls. No differences were observed between autism and OCD relatives and healthy controls in the four other tasks (verbal fluency, design fluency, trail making test and association fluency).ConclusionsOur findings show the existence of executive dysfunction in the unaffected first-degree relatives of probands with OCD, similar to those observed in the relatives of patients with autism. These results support and extend previous cognitive studies on probands indicating executive dysfunctions in autism and OCD. Planning and working memory processes could thus represent a common cognitive endophenotype in autism and OCD that could help in the identification of genes conferring vulnerability to these disorders.


2017 ◽  
Vol 47 (11) ◽  
pp. 1957-1970 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Yoris ◽  
A. M. García ◽  
L. Traiber ◽  
H. Santamaría-García ◽  
M. Martorell ◽  
...  

BackgroundObsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) patients typically overmonitor their own behavior, as shown by symptoms of excessive doubt and checking. Although this is well established for the patients’ relationship with external stimuli in the environment, no study has explored their monitoring of internal body signals, a process known to be affected in anxiety-related syndromes. Here, we explored this issue through a cardiac interoception task that measures sensing of heartbeats. Our aim was to explore key behavioral and electrophysiological aspects of internal-cue monitoring in OCD, while examining their potential distinctiveness in this condition.MethodWe administered a heartbeat detection (HBD) task (with related interoceptive confidence and awareness measures) to three matched groups (OCD patients, panic disorder patients, healthy controls) and recorded ongoing modulations of two task-relevant electrophysiological markers: the heart evoked potential (HEP) and the motor potential (MP).ResultsBehaviorally, OCD patients outperformed controls and panic patients in the HBD task. Moreover, they exhibited greater amplitude modulation of both the HEP and the MP during cardiac interoception. However, they evinced poorer confidence and awareness of their interoceptive skills.ConclusionsConvergent behavioral and electrophysiological data showed that overactive monitoring in OCD extends to the sensing of internal bodily signals. Moreover, this pattern discriminated OCD from panic patients, suggesting a condition-distinctive alteration. Our results highlight the potential of exploring interoceptive processes in the OCD spectrum to better characterize the population's cognitive profile. Finally, these findings may lay new bridges between somatic theories of emotion and cognitive models of OCD.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (S2) ◽  
pp. 977-977 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Olbrich ◽  
S. Olbrich ◽  
I. Jahn ◽  
U. Hegerl ◽  
K. Stengler

Neurophysiological hyperactivation of cortical and subcortical brain areas has been reported in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) using functional imaging techniques and electroencephalography (EEG). Also sleep disturbances and delayed sleep phases have been associated with OCD symptomatology. However, vigilance regulation in OCD during the transition phase from wakefulness to sleep onset remains unclear. Therefore the aim of this study was to analyze EEG-source estimates and EEG vigilance regulation in OCD patients in comparison to healthy controls.A 15 minute resting EEG was recorded in 30 unmedicated OCD patients and 30 healthy, age and gender matched controls. EEG power source estimates of the whole time series were computed by exact Low Resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography (eLORETA). Each consecutive one second EEG-segment was classified into one out of seven EEG-vigilance stages (0, A1, A2, A3, B1, B2/3, C) using Vigilance Algorithm Leipzig (VIGALL). The eLORETA analysis (log of F-ratios, p < 0.05, corrected for multiple comparison) revealed significantly increased delta power in the right superior frontal gyrus for OCD patients in comparison to healthy controls. Vigilance analysis yielded significantly increased amounts of high vigilance stage A2 (Mann-Whitney test, p < 0.001, corrected for multiple comparison) for OCD patients.This study repeated findings of altered EEG-power in frontal areas in OCD patients. Alterations of EEG-vigilance regulation were found with increased amounts of high vigilance stage A2. This is in line with a hypothesis of cortical hyperactivation in OCD. The value of EEG-vigilance as a possible biological marker for e.g. treatment response should be focus of further studies.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Long Long Chen ◽  
Oskar Flygare ◽  
John Wallert ◽  
Jesper Enander ◽  
Volen Ivanov ◽  
...  

Objective: To assess executive functions in patients with Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) compared with healthy controls. Methods: Adults diagnosed with BDD (n=26) or OCD (n=29) according to DSM-5, and healthy controls (n=28) underwent validated and computerized neuropsychological tests; spatial working memory (SWM), Intra- extra dimensional set shifting (IED) and Stop signal task (SST), from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Test performance was compared between groups, and correlated to standardized symptom severity of BDD and OCD. Significance level was set to p<0.05. Results: There were no statistically significant between-group differences on key outcome measures in SWM, IED, or SST. There was a weak positive correlation between symptom severity and test errors on SWM and IED in both OCD and BDD groups; increased clinical severity were associated with more errors in these tests. Further, there was a negative correlation between symptom severity and SST in the BDD group. Conclusions: Patients with BDD or OCD did not differ from healthy control subjects in terms of test performance, however there were several statistically significant correlations between symptom severity and performance in those with BDD or OCD. More studies on EF in BDD and OCD are required to elucidate if there are differences in EF between these two disorders.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanrong Wang ◽  
Shaohua Chang ◽  
Xiaomin Ma ◽  
Jiying Li ◽  
Ruixia Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract We examined the relationship between facial morphological features and clinical characteristics of adolescents with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The enrolled study sample comprised 40 adolescents diagnosed with OCD using the Obsessive Compulsive Inventory Child Version (OCI-CV) and 38 healthy controls (HCs). Facial photos, 21 facial diameters, and nine facial angles were collected using image software. In males, lower lip red height was significantly lower in OCD patients than in HCs (P < 0.05); no significant differences were observed in other facial indicators (all P > 0.05). In females, the nasolabial angle was smaller in OCD patients than in HCs (P < 0.05); no significant differences were observed in other facial indicators (all P > 0.05). The difference in lower lip red height between the OCD group and HC group was positively correlated with mental neutralization symptoms (r = 0.401, P < 0.05). Our findings highlight the relationship between facial and clinical characteristics in OCD patients.


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