title: Visual memory impairment in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: a controlled study.
abstract: Memory processes were compared in 26 patients presenting DSM-III-R obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with 20 sex-, age- and education-matched normal controls. A significant between-group difference was found: visual memory was significantly lower in OCD, whereas no significant between-group differences in verbal memory were observed. A subsample of 17 OCD were also compared with the 20 control subjects on an explicit-memory free-recall task and an implicit-memory completion task using neutral, obsessive and guilt-responsibility words to test the effects of an emotional verbal input on memory functioning. No between-group difference was found, suggesting that emotionally laden word processing did not modify implicit and explicit memory performances.
authors.affiliation: Unité de traitement de l'anxiété, Hôpital Neurologique, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dirson
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bouvard
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cottraux
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy; D003866:Depressive Disorder; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D011581:Psychological Tests