Neuropsychological study of frontal lobe function in psychotropic-naive children with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Objective: The authors' goal was to evaluate cognition in children with obs essive-compulsive disorder (OCD) early in their illness. Method: They admin istered neuropsychological tests to 21 pediatric patients with OCD and 21 h ealthy children matched for age, sex, socioeconomic status, and intelligenc e. The children with OCD were not depressed, and none had ever received psy chotropic medication. The neuropsychological tests were used to assess the relationship between psychiatric symptoms and cognitive function. Results: The children with OCD performed as well as the healthy children on the neur opsychological tests. Psychiatric symptoms and cognitive performance were n ot related. Conclusions: Nondepressed children with recently diagnosed OCD who had never received psychotropic medication demonstrated no cognitive im pairment according to their performance on neuropsychological tests. The au thors conclude that OCD symptoms may not interfere with cognitive abilities early in the illness.