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Related Experiment Videos

Examining procedural working memory processing in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Nitzan Shahar1, Andrei R Teodorescu2, Gideon E Anholt1

  • 1Psychology Department, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.

Psychiatry Research
|April 9, 2017
PubMed
Summary
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Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients do not show deficits in procedural working memory. Novel findings suggest perceptual difficulties may underlie OCD symptoms, not working memory impairments.

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry

Background:

  • Previous research linked obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to working memory deficits, but meta-analyses show small effect sizes.
  • A distinction exists between declarative and procedural working memory; OCD has been primarily studied using declarative measures.
  • OCD symptoms often involve actions, making procedural working memory a more relevant domain to investigate.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the operational integrity of procedural working memory in individuals with OCD.
  • To determine if procedural working memory deficits contribute to OCD symptomology.
  • To explore alternative cognitive explanations for observed differences between OCD patients and healthy controls.

Main Methods:

Keywords:
Evidence accumulation modelingEx-Gaussian distributionExecutive functionsIntra-individual variabilityObsessive compulsive disorderWorking memory

Related Experiment Videos

  • Participants with OCD and healthy controls completed choice reaction tasks under varying procedural working memory demands.
  • Reaction times (RT) were analyzed using ex-Gaussian distribution fitting to assess the tail of the RT distribution (τ parameter).
  • A two-stage evidence accumulation model was employed to analyze group differences in the leading edge of the RT distribution.

    • Main Results:

    • No significant group differences were found in the τ parameter, indicating intact procedural working memory in OCD.
    • Group differences, independent of working memory load, were observed in the leading edge of the RT distribution.
    • Evidence accumulation modeling suggested potential perceptual difficulties, rather than working memory deficits, might explain group differences.

    Conclusions:

    • Procedural working memory processing appears to be intact in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
    • The findings challenge the notion of working memory deficits as a primary cognitive underpinning of OCD.
    • A novel hypothesis suggests that perceptual deficits may play a role in the manifestation of OCD symptoms.