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Published on: January 9, 2015
Altered Error Monitoring and Decreased Flanker Task Accuracy in Pediatric Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Gregory Hanna1, Yanni Liu1, Lauren Rentschler1
1University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Insights
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) involves impaired error monitoring. OCD cases showed increased error-related negativity (ERN) but reduced accuracy and a smaller difference between error positivity and correct positivity (ΔPe), suggesting response uncertainty.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Psychology
Background:
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is linked to potential biomarkers in brain activity, specifically error monitoring.
- The error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) are event-related potential components reflecting error processing.
Approach:
- This study investigated ERN, Pe, flanker task accuracy, and clinical measures in 105 OCD cases and 105 healthy controls (HC) aged 8–18.
- A subgroup of 21 OCD cases had a history of tic disorders.
Key Points:
- Higher accuracy correlated with increased ERN and ΔPe across all participants.
- OCD cases exhibited increased ERN but decreased accuracy and ΔPe compared to HC.
- These differences persisted in tic-related and non-tic-related OCD subgroups.
Conclusions:
- Findings support the hypothesis of impaired error monitoring in OCD.
- A reduced ΔPe in OCD may indicate compromised error signaling and response uncertainty.
- Lower ΔPe was associated with earlier OCD symptom onset.
Abstract:
The error-related negativity (ERN) and error positivity (Pe) are components of the event-related potential following an error that are potential mechanistic biomarkers of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The study examined the ERN, Pe, flanker task accuracy, and clinical measures in 105 OCD cases and 105 matched healthy controls (HC), ages 8 to 18 years, with 21 cases having a tic disorder history. Higher flanker task accuracy in all participants was associated with an increased ERN amplitude and increased difference between Pe and correct positivity amplitudes (ΔPe). Compared to HC, OCD cases had an increased ERN but decreased flanker task accuracy and ΔPe. Those differences were also significant in tic-related and non-tic-related OCD cases compared to HC. A lower ΔPe was associated in OCD cases with an earlier age at OCD symptom onset. The results support the hypothesis that OCD involves defects in an error monitoring system and suggest a reduced ΔPe may compromise error signaling and cause uncertainty about the correctness of a response.
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