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Related Experiment Videos

Spatial working memory in obsessive-compulsive disorder improves with clinical response: A functional MRI study.

Nic J A van der Wee1, Nick F Ramsey, Harold J G M van Megen

  • 1Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, University Medical Center Utrecht, Heidelberglaan 100, 3584 X Utrecht, The Netherlands. n.j.a.van_der_wee@lumc.nl

European Neuropsychopharmacology : the Journal of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology
|June 27, 2006
PubMed
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Executive dysfunction in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may improve with treatment. Working memory deficits and associated brain activity changes in OCD patients appear to be state-dependent, improving after successful treatment.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Psychiatry
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Executive dysfunctions in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are not well understood regarding their state or trait dependency.
  • Few studies have investigated these executive functions using functional neuroimaging techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether executive dysfunctions in OCD are state-dependent.
  • To explore the functional brain correlates of working memory performance in OCD patients before and after pharmacological treatment.

Main Methods:

  • A functional MRI (fMRI) study was conducted on 14 psychotropic-free OCD patients without comorbidities.
  • Patients performed a spatial n-back task assessing working memory at four difficulty levels, before and after 12 weeks of pharmacological treatment.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Brain activation patterns were analyzed in relation to treatment response.

    • Main Results:

    • No significant differences in clinical, demographic, or baseline brain activation were found between responders and non-responders.
    • Only responders showed performance improvements in the working memory task, accompanied by changes in overall brain activity patterns.
    • No correlations were observed between symptom scale changes, brain activity, and task performance.

    Conclusions:

    • Preliminary findings suggest that spatial working memory deficits in OCD and their neural underpinnings are, to some extent, state-dependent.
    • Treatment appears to ameliorate these deficits and alter associated brain activity in responders.
    • Functional neuroimaging provides insights into the dynamic nature of cognitive impairments in OCD.