Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026

Exploring the Neural Correlates of Cognitive Reappraisal in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Using Task-based Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Published on: March 14, 2025
Do cognitive functions in obsessive-compulsive disorder change after treatment? A systematic review and a double case
Sanne Kjær Vandborg1, Tue Borst Hartmann, Birgit Egedal Bennedsen
1Clinic for OCD, Aarhus University Hospital Risskov, Tretommervej 1, 8240 Risskov, Denmark. sannkjae@rm.dk
Background:
Neuropsychological and neuroimaging studies have documented that patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have cognitive difficulties dependent upon fronto-striatal circuits in the brain. It is, however, unclear whether the cognitive difficulties change after treatment. Answering this question could help establish whether cognitive difficulties in OCD are state dependent or more trait-like.
Aim:
To determine whether cognitive functions in OCD change after treatment, based on a systematic literature review, supplemented by a double case report of monozygotic twins with OCD.
Methods:
For the literature review, systematic searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO from the earliest dates available to September 2010. For the double case report, monozygotic twins underwent blood samples and magnetic resonance imaging before treatment with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), antidepressants and small doses of antipsychotic medication. Before and after CBT they were assessed with measures of content and severity of OCD symptoms, and with a comprehensive battery of neuropsychological tests to assess cognitive functions.
Results:
Results from the studies under review (n = 14) were so inconsistent that it could not be concluded whether cognitive functions in OCD change after treatment. The twins improved some of their cognitive functions after treatment.
Conclusions:
A better understanding of whether cognitive dysfunctions in OCD are state dependent or trait-like could bring important implications in understanding the pathology and future treatment of OCD.
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