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Signal Attenuation as a Rat Model of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

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Goal-directed learning and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Claire M Gillan¹, Trevor W Robbins²

¹Department of Psychology, New York University, 6 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003, USA Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK claire.gillan@gmail.com.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences

|October 1, 2014

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) compulsions may stem from excessive habit formation, not goal-directed avoidance. This suggests obsessions could be a consequence of compulsive behaviors, shifting our understanding of OCD.

Keywords:

compulsivity goal directed habit obsessive–compulsive disorder

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Psychiatry
Cognitive Psychology

Background:

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is often viewed as a disorder of goal-directed dysfunction.
A habit hypothesis suggests OCD symptoms arise from impaired goal-directed behavior and excessive habit formation.

Purpose of the Study:

To review neurobiological evidence supporting the habit hypothesis of OCD.
To present findings from recent behavioral experiments testing this hypothesis in patients.
To propose a novel account of the relationship between habits and OCD symptoms.

Main Methods:

Review of historical and recent neurobiological evidence.
Behavioral experiments in patient populations to test the habit hypothesis.
Application of a cognitive dissonance framework to model OCD.

Main Results:

Compulsions in OCD may result from excessive habit formation rather than goal-directed avoidance.
Irrational threat beliefs (obsessions) may be a consequence, not a cause, of compulsive behavior.
This model offers a new perspective on the functional relationship between habits and OCD symptoms.

Conclusions:

The findings challenge the traditional view of OCD as solely a goal-directed dysfunction.
A habit-based model, where obsessions follow compulsions, may reframe the conceptualization of OCD.
This framework may also apply to other compulsive disorders, like substance dependence.