Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 19, 2026

Exploring the Neural Correlates of Cognitive Reappraisal in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Using Task-based Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: March 14, 2025
Selective cognitive deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder compared to panic disorder with agoraphobia
M Boldrini1, L Del Pace, G P A Placidi
1Department of Neuroscience, New York State Psychiatric Institute New York, NY, USA. mboldrini@unfi.it
Objective:
Visual-spatial and executive functions deficits have been reported in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We investigated their specificity comparing cognitive function in OCD, panic disorder with agoraphobia (PD/A) and controls by a comprehensive neuropsychological battery.
Method:
Fifty-five subjects (25 OCD, 15 PD/A, 15 controls) without current depressive episode underwent structured clinical interview for DSM-IV, Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. Neuropsychological battery assessed: executive functions, visual discrimination, spatial memory and learning, verbal memory, general intellectual functioning.
Results:
OCD showed controlled fluency, visual-spatial construction, learning and memory deficits; PD/A spatial learning impairment. OCD was discriminated from PD/A and controls by three tests scores, predicting group membership for 76.4% of the cases.
Conclusion:
Visual-constructive and controlled fluency deficits seem specific in OCD, while the spatial learning deficit, shared with PD patients, may not be disorder-specific, but anxiety-related. Results support the proposed ventral frontal-striatal circuit involvement in OCD.
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