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Compulsivity Reveals a Novel Dissociation between Action and Confidence.
Matilde M Vaghi1, Fabrice Luyckx2, Akeem Sule3
1Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK; Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI), University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK.
Neuron
|October 3, 2017
Summary
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients can accurately update their confidence but fail to adjust their actions accordingly. This dissociation reveals independent cognitive processes for confidence and behavior in OCD.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Neuropsychology
- Computational Psychiatry
Background:
- Confidence and actions are typically linked, making their interplay complex to study.
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) features disproportionate compulsive actions, suggesting potential dissociations in cognitive processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate whether action and confidence are updated independently during learning in individuals with OCD.
- To explore the cognitive architecture underlying confidence estimation and behavioral control.
Main Methods:
- A predictive-inference task was employed to assess how confidence and actions change with environmental shifts.
- Participants with OCD and healthy controls completed the task to compare cognitive updating mechanisms.
Main Results:
- Both OCD patients and controls accurately updated their confidence based on environmental changes.
- OCD patients' actions did not reflect their updated confidence, unlike controls, indicating a behavioral deficit.
Conclusions:
- A novel dissociation between confidence and action was identified in OCD.
- Findings suggest a cognitive architecture where confidence accurately tracks environmental statistics independently of behavioral output.
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