WISCONSIN CARD SORTING TEST-PERFORMANCE IN OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER - NO EVIDENCE FOR INVOLVEMENT OF DORSOLATERAL PREFRONTAL CORTEX

Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) performances were studied in 33 pat ients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and 33 age-, sex-, and education-matched normal comparison subjects; the OCD patients were di vided into four subgroups on the basis of their symptomatology. Neithe r the two groups of subjects nor the four OCD subgroups differed on an y of the WCST neuropsychological indices. No relationship was demonstr ated between test performance and clinical-epidemiological characteris tics of the OCD patients. All of the OCD patients were being treated w ith fluvoxamine maleate, which improves OCD symptoms and could also im prove WCST performances. Nevertheless, no remarkable differences in th e WCST indices were observed in patients treated with fluvoxamine when compared with patients who had not received a specific therapy for at least 3 weeks. Since the WCST is widely considered sensitive to dysfu nction of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, our results do not suppo rt the involvement of that brain region in OCD.