NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATIONS OF PATIENT S WITH OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVEDYSFUNCTION - EVIDENCE OF ALTERATIONS IN THE CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM

Neuropsychological research in Obsesive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) has been related only to imaging and electrophysiologic aspects of the dis ease. For our knowledge, a complete neuropsychological evaluation has not been performed up to this moment. Objective: describe the Neuropsy chological behavior of a group patients with OCD and its possible rela tion with clinical parameters. Method: patients were recruited from th e Mexican Institute of Psychiatry, according the DSM III-R criteria fo r OCD. Rating of symptom severety was performed using the Yale-Brown S cale. The neuropsychological evaluation was performed with the Luria-N ebraska neuropsychological battery (LNNB). This instrument was analize d at three different levels: clinical scales, summary scales , factor and localization scales. All patients were free of medication at the t ime of evaluation. Results: thirty-two patients were included, 19 fema le and 13 male, with a mean age of 35 years (range 16-67). The age at onset of the disorder was 22 years (range 12-47) with a mean duration of 14 years (1-40) The clinical scales that were impaired in more than 25% of the sample were rythm, visual, arithmetic, memory and intelect ual processes. Using the same criteria none of the localization scales was impaired, but in the summary scales and factor scales we founded frequent elevations in the concept recognition and management processe s, complex memory and arithmetics. The alteration in the arithmetic ab ilities (F = 4 2; p = 0.05) and in the motor writting abilities (F = 6 1, p = 0.02) were associated with the severity of compulsive symptoms. A similar relationship was found between the impairment of the profil e elevation scale and the obsessions severity (F = 6.8; p = 0.01) Conc lusions: The Neuropsychological findings could mean a disfunction of t he right hemisphere in the frontal-temporal area. Some of the cognitiv e impairments could be related with OCD symptom severity.