LOW-LEVEL SENSORY PROCESSING IN OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER - AN EVOKED-POTENTIAL STUDY

This study used visual and auditory evoked potentials (VEP and AEP) to study low-level sensory processing in a group of 15 unmedicated subje cts with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and 30 age-matched, gende r-matched, and handedness-matched normal controls. EPs were recorded t o flash (VEP) and binaural click (AEP) stimulation. OCD subjects were found to have significantly shorter latencies on NI and P2 of the AEP, and no differences were found in the VEP. Results indicate abnormal i nformation processing states in OCD during low-level auditory processi ng, but not during low-level visual processing. Neural generators of t he VEP and AEP are briefly reviewed and results are discussed in relat ion to current neurobiological models of OCD.