title: Neurological and neuropsychological signs in obsessive compulsive disorder: interaction with behavioural treatment.
abstract: The main aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that neurological soft signs and neuropsychological abnormalities associated with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) predict poor response to behavioural treatment. The design permitted investigation of secondary hypotheses, regarding correlations among these neurological markers and levels of symptomatology, and their stability in relation to changes in levels of symptomatology. Thirty-five participants satisfying DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for OCD were assessed pre- and postbehavioural treatment using a scaled measure of symptom severity, and a battery of tests sensitive to neuropsychological deficits associated with OCD. Eighteen of the participants were also assessed on an inventory of neurological soft signs. Neither neuropsychological test deficits nor neurological soft signs pretreatment predicted response to behavioural treatment. Lower performance on neuropsychological tasks and symptom severity were both significantly correlated with levels of soft signs. Some neurological markers were less severe posttreatment, but these changes were not related to treatment response.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, De Crespigny Park, Denmark Hill, London, UK. d.bolton@iop.bpmf.ac.uk
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bolton
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Raven
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Madronal-Luque
authors.forename: I M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Marks
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis