PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL-VALUE OF EVENT-RELATED POTENTIALS INOBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER

To investigate brain correlates of cognitive function in obsessive-com pulsive disorder (OCD), event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in a group of thirteen unmedicated OCD patients and thirteen normal co ntrols for verbal auditory stimuli in art oddball paradigm. The patien ts showed longer latencies of the N1 and P2, shorter latency of the P3 , and reduced amplitude of the N2. These results suggest that OCDs str ess the speed of task-dependent processes (i.e., by showing shorter N2 and P3 latencies) and have impairment of task-independent ones (i.e., by showing longer N1 and P2 latencies and reduced N2 amplitude). The components were more positive in the left hemisphere in OCDs and in th e right hemisphere in normal controls, Future responders to treatment had significantly reduced N2 and enhanced P3 amplitudes relative to fu ture nonresponders. So ERPs might provide psychophysiological profiles in OCDs with clinical and pharmacological implications. (C) 1997 Soci ety of Biological Psychiatry.