scholarly journals Executive functions and insight in OCD: a comparative study

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Manarte ◽  
António R. Andrade ◽  
Linete do Rosário ◽  
Daniel Sampaio ◽  
Maria Luísa Figueira ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Around 25 to 30% of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) do not respond to treatment. These patients have the longest duration of disease and the worst prognosis. Following years of research on this topic, insight has emerged as a potential explanation for this therapeutic resistance. Therefore, it has become important to characterize OCD patients with poor insight. Few studies have focused on the neuropsychological and cognitive characteristics of these patients. Methods To help fill this gap, we divided 57 patients into two groups, one with good insight and the other with poor insight, assessed their neuropsychological functions—through a Rey’s figure test, a California verbal learning test, a Toulouse–Piéron test and a Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST)—and compared the results with those of a paired control group. Results The statistical analysis, with a significance level of 95%, revealed differences in the executive function tests, and particularly in the WCST (p ≤ 0.001) and trail-making-test (TMT A/B) (p = 0.002). Conclusions These differences suggest that the neuropsychological profile of poor-insight patients is different from their good-insight counterparts, emphasize the role played by the executive functions in insight and highlights the need for more accurate neurocognitive research and treatment.

2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 286-290 ◽  
Author(s):  
MYUNG-SUN KIM ◽  
KYOUNG-MI JANG ◽  
BIT-NA KIM

AbstractWe investigated the neuropsychological profile of subjects in a subclinical obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) sample. Psychometrically defined subclinical obsessive-compulsive (n = 21) and control (n = 22) subjects were examined. Comprehensive neuropsychological tests evaluating verbal/nonverbal memory, attention, and executive function were administered. The subclinical obsessive-compulsive group showed poorer performances on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), F(1, 41) = 13.80, p < .001, and Trail-Making Test (TMT), F(1, 41) = 5.48, p < .05, compared with the control group. The subclinical obsessive-compulsive group showed higher rates of total errors, perseverative errors, and perseverative responses. In addition, the subclinical obsessive-compulsive group committed a greater number of errors in the TMT. However, the groups showed no performance differences in the TMT after controlling for the effects of depression and anxiety, F(1, 39) = 0.11, p = .739. These results suggest that subclinical obsessive-compulsives seemed to display deficits in executive functioning. This neuropsychological profile is consistent with current theories proposing that executive dysfunction may serve as the pathophysiological mechanism underlying the development of obsessive-compulsive disorder. (JINS, 2009, 15, 286–290.)


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Enrique Avila Campos ◽  
María Cristina Pinto Dussan ◽  
Ángela María Polanco Barreto ◽  
Esneyder Manuel Guerrero ◽  
Rafael Antonio Vásquez Rojas ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundObsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) has a complex etiology related to multiple neuropsychological factors. OCD is associated with several candidate genes but results are discordant. The objective was to explore the association between five polymorphisms related to neurotransmitters, the risk of an OCD diagnosis and the performance in four executive functions tests done with Colombian patients diagnosed with this condition.Methods63 patients and 65 controls matched by gender and age were genetically analyzed. For the study of the relation between cognitive function and phenotypes, a subsample of 33 patients and 31 controls was used. The Stroop test, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Tower of London and Trail Making Test (TMT) for executive function assessment were applied and the SNPs analyzed were: COMT (rs4680), MAO-A (rs6323), HTTLPR (rs25531), HT2A (rs6315) and SLC1A1 (rs301434).ResultsDifferences in the conceptualization of the WCST test (p = 0.023) and Stroop interference score (p = 0.041) between cases and controls were obtained. After analyzing the relationship between genotypes and sub-scores of the tests, associations between the presence of MAO-A, SLAC1A1, HTTLPR and HT2A alleles and tests sub-scores were found.DiscussionThis characterization of children with OCD is a new field of work in Colombia and one of the first works performed in Latin America. The sample size and the number of polymorphisms analyzed in this population should be increased.


1995 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Cumming ◽  
Phillipa Hay ◽  
Teresa Lee ◽  
Perminder Sachdev

Seventeen obsessive-compulsive disorder patients treated with psychosurgery were administered a comprehensive neuropsychological test battery. Their performance on neuropsychological testing was compared with that of an age and severity matched sample of 17 OCD sufferers who had not received psychosurgery. The psychosurgery and control groups did not differ in intellectual or memory functioning, consistent with earlier findings that psychosurgery does not reduce global ability estimates. The psychosurgery group performed more poorly than the control group on an adaptation of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, demonstrating the possible impact of frontal lobe lesions on the abilities underpinning the formation and shifting of response sets.


CNS Spectrums ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 207-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Won Hur ◽  
Na young Shin ◽  
Sung Nyun Kim ◽  
Joon Hwan Jang ◽  
Jung-Seok Choi ◽  
...  

ObjectivePathological gambling (PG) is a severe and persistent pattern of problem gambling that has been aligned with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, no study has compared the neurocognitive profiles of individuals with PG and OCD.MethodsWe compared neurocognitive functioning, including executive function, verbal learning and memory, and visual–spatial organization and memory among 16 pathological gamblers, 31 drug-naïve OCD subjects, and 52 healthy controls.ResultsThe only neurocognitive marker common to both groups was increased fragmentation errors on the Rey–Osterrieth Complex Figure Test (ROCF). The PG subjects showed increased nonperseverative error on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and organization difficulties in the ROCF, whereas the OCD subjects revealed longer response times on the Stroop test and retention difficulties on the immediate recall scale of the ROCF.ConclusionsA more careful approach is required in considering whether PG is a part of the OCD spectrum, as little evidence of neurocognitive overlap between PG and OCD has been reported.


2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 29-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Verena Müller ◽  
Sönke Johannes ◽  
Berdieke Wieringa ◽  
Axel Weber ◽  
Kirsten Müller-Vahl ◽  
...  

Objective:Fronto-striatal dysfunction has been discussed as underlying symptoms of Tourette syndrome (TS) with co-morbid Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This suggests possible impairments of executive functions in this disorder, which were therefore targeted in the present study.Results:A comprehensive series of neuropsychological tests examining attention, memory and executive functions was performed in a group of 14 TS/OCD in co-occurrence with OCD patients and a matched control group.Results:While attentional and memory mechanisms were not altered, TS/OCS patients showed deficits in executive functions predominately in the areas of response inhibition and action monitoring.Conclusions:These findings provide further evidence for a substantial impairment of the frontal-striatal-thalamic-frontal circuit. We propose that the deficits in monitoring, error detection and response inhibition constitute the major impairment of TS/OCD patients in the cognitive domain.


2014 ◽  
Vol 72 (12) ◽  
pp. 954-959 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Bandeira de Lima ◽  
Fernanda Moreira ◽  
Marleide da Mota Gomes ◽  
Heber Maia-Filho

Objective To compare the executive functions of children and adolescents with idiopathic epilepsy with a control group and to correlate with clinical data, intelligence and academic performance. Method Cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study. Thirty-one cases and thirty-five controls were evaluated by the WCST (Wisconsin Card Sorting Test).The results were compared with clinical data (seizure type and frequency, disease duration and number of antiepileptic drugs used), IQ (WISC-III) and academic performance (APT). Results Patients with epilepsy had poorer executive function scores. There was no positive linear correlation between test scores and epilepsy variables. There was a positive association between academic performance and some executive function results. Conclusion Children with well controlled idiopathic epilepsy may show deficits in executive functions in spite of clinical variables. Those deficits may influence academic performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 1107-1107
Author(s):  
Rachel Kallus ◽  
Lauren Bangert ◽  
Elana Farace

Abstract Objective We completed a case study to investigate whether there are cognitive changes after Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) surgery in the treatment of refractory Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as an initiation of a quality analysis due to increased referrals for this procedure at our institution. Method We evaluated a 21-year-old male before and after bilateral nucleus accumbens DBS placement for OCD. His pre-operative neurosurgery evaluation and brain imaging were unremarkable. Post-operative imaging revealed stable changes of bilateral DBS lead placement. Pre and post-operative neuropsychological testing included measures of mental status, language, memory, attention, and executive functioning. Results A reliable change estimate was obtained for each test. There was no significant change in performance on the Mini-Mental State Exam, Boston Naming Test, Logical Memory I/II, Faces I, Rey Complex Figure Test (RCFT) immediate and delayed recall, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test-64, Trail Making Tests A & B, Letter Fluency, Animal Fluency, and Stroop Color and Word Test (Stroop) color and color-word condition. There was significant decline for all California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition trials (trials 1–5, short delay recall, and long delay recall) and RCFT recognition. There was significant improvement for the Stroop word condition. Conclusions. Given mixed findings, it is unclear the extent to which DBS impacted this patient’s overall cognitive functioning. Meanwhile, he showed improvement in OCD symptoms, to the degree that he could live alone, maintain employment, and independently manage daily activities. There is need for future studies to examine the cognitive effects of DBS for OCD, with larger samples and a control group.


2015 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Mak ◽  
Ernest Tyburski ◽  
Łukasz Madany ◽  
Andrzej Sokołowski ◽  
Agnieszka Samochowiec

AbstractThe cerebellum has long been perceived as a structure responsible for the human motor function. According to the contemporary approach, however, it plays a significant role in complex behavior regulatory processes. The aim of this study was to describe executive functions in patients after cerebellar surgery. The study involved 30 patients with cerebellar pathology. The control group comprised 30 neurologically and mentally healthy individuals, matched for sex, age, and number of years of education. Executive functions were measured by the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Stroop Color Word Test (SCWT), Trail Making Test (TMT), and working memory by the Digit Span. Compared to healthy controls, patients made more Errors and Perseverative errors in the WCST, gave more Perseverative responses, and had a lower Number of categories completed. The patients exhibited higher response times in all three parts of the SCWT and TMT A and B. No significant differences between the two groups were reported in their performance of the SCWT and TMT with regard to the measures of absolute or relative interference. The patients had lower score on the backward Digit Span. Patients with cerebellar pathology may exhibit some impairment within problem solving and working memory. Their worse performance on the SCWT and TMT could, in turn, stem from their poor motor–somatosensory control, and not necessarily executive deficits. Our results thus support the hypothesis of the cerebellum’s mediating role in the regulation of the activity of the superordinate cognitive control network in the brain. (JINS, 2016, 22, 47–57)


2018 ◽  
Vol 128 (2) ◽  
pp. 583-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feilong Gong ◽  
Peng Li ◽  
Bin Li ◽  
Shizhen Zhang ◽  
Xinjie Zhang ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVEAnterior capsulotomy (AC) is sometimes used as a last resort for treatment-refractory obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Previous studies assessing neuropsychological outcomes in patients with OCD have identified several forms of cognitive dysfunction that are associated with the disease, but few have focused on changes in cognitive function in OCD patients who have undergone surgery. In the present study, the authors investigated the effects of AC on the cognitive function of patients with treatment-refractory OCD.METHODSThe authors selected 14 patients with treatment-refractory OCD who had undergone bilateral AC between 2007 and 2013, 14 nonsurgically treated OCD patients, and 14 healthy control subjects for this study. The 3 groups were matched for sex, age, and education. Several neuropsychological tests, including Similarities and Block Design, which are subsets of the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence; Immediate and Delayed Logical Memory and Immediate and Delayed Visual Reproduction, which are subsets of the Wechsler Memory Scale–Revised; and Corrects, Categories, Perseverative Errors, Nonperseverative Errors, and Errors, subtests of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, were conducted in all 42 subjects at baseline and after AC, after nonsurgical treatment, or at 6-month intervals, as appropriate. The Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) was used to measure OCD symptoms in all 28 OCD patients.RESULTSThe Y-BOCS scores decreased significantly in both OCD groups during the 12-month follow-up period. Surgical patients showed higher levels of improvement in verbal memory, visual memory, visuospatial skills, and executive function than the nonsurgically treated OCD patients.CONCLUSIONSThe findings of this study suggest that AC not only reduces OCD symptoms but also attenuates moderate cognitive deficits.


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