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Does neuropsychological performance in OCD relate to different symptoms? A meta‐analysis comparing the symmetry and obsessing dimensions
Author(s) -
Bragdon Laura B.,
Gibb Brandon E.,
Coles Meredith E.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
depression and anxiety
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.634
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1520-6394
pISSN - 1091-4269
DOI - 10.1002/da.22785
Subject(s) - neuropsychology , psychology , neuropsychological assessment , working memory , clinical psychology , cognition , verbal memory , cognitive flexibility , executive functions , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , psychiatry
Background Investigations of neuropsychological functioning in obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD) have produced mixed results for deficits in executive functioning (EF), attention, and memory. One potential explanation for varied findings may relate to the heterogeneity of symptom presentations, and different clinical or neurobiological characteristics may underlie these different symptoms. Methods We investigated differences in neuropsychological functioning between two symptoms groups, obsessing/checking (O/C) and symmetry/ordering (S/O), based on data suggesting an association with different motivations: harm avoidance and incompleteness, respectively. Ten studies (with 628 patients) were included and each investigation assessed at least one of 14 neuropsychological domains. Results The S/O domain demonstrated small, negative correlations with overall neuropsychological functioning, performance in EF, memory, visuospatial ability, cognitive flexibility, and verbal working memory. O/C symptoms demonstrated small, negative correlations with memory and verbal memory performance. A comparison of functioning between symptom groups identified large effect sizes showing that the S/O dimension was more strongly related to poorer neuropsychological performance overall, and in the domains of attention, visuospatial ability, and the subdomain of verbal working memory. Conclusions Findings support existing evidence suggesting that different OCD symptoms, and their associated core motivations, relate to unique patterns of neuropsychological functioning, and, potentially dysfunction in different neural circuits.