Neuropsychological performance in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Neuropsychological functioning was examined in a group of 18 nondepressed patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and 18 age-, education-, and gender-matched normal controls. A recent nonverbal memory deficit was identified in the patients with OCD. From performance on timed and untimed measures of the same constructs, it appears that OCD patients score more poorly than controls when speed is a factor. Although performance on a timed tactual-spatial motor test was also impaired, it is unclear whether this deficit is attributable to the nonverbal memory and/or speed deficits. Deficits in verbal abilities, including recent verbal memory, were not identified. Results were equivocal for executive function and visual-spatial abilities. The previously established association of recent nonverbal memory abilities with functioning of the right mesial temporal area is discussed in the context of current hypotheses about the neuroanatomic substrate of OCD.