Cognitive dysfunction in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Objective: Assessment of cognitive functions among obsessive-compulsive dis order (OCD) patients would help in understanding the neurobiology and brain areas involved in that disorder. The objective of this work was to study t he cognitive dysfunction in OCD patients and to identify its correlation wi th both the clinical picture and the severity of the disorder. Method: Neuropsychological and electrophysiological event-related potential s were tested in 30 OCD patients and compared with 30 normal volunteers of a matched gender, age and education. Results: Results showed a defective visuospatial recognition, which worsens with chronicity, deteriorated set-shifting abilities, overfocused attentio n to irrelevant stimuli and delayed selective attention to relevant tasks. Mild cases showed better selective attention than severe cases. Obsessive c ases had a defective visual memory, while compulsive cases had delayed perc eption of task relevant stimuli. Mixed cases showed disturbed information-p rocessing both early and late. Conclusion: OCD patients have a characteristic pattern of cognitive dysfunc tion that differs among patients of varied severity, chronicity and symptom type. We suggest a striatofrontoparietal neural pathophysiology. OCD seems to be a heterogeneous disorder, both clinically and pathophysiologically.