Clinical correlates of word recognition memory in obsessive-compulsive disorder: an event-related potential study.
Memory disturbances found in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may partially be related to dysfunction of cortico-subcortical circuits. However, it is still unknown how OCD symptomatology is related to memory processing. To explore this question, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in a continuous word-recognition paradigm in OCD patients with either severe or moderate scores on the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) (group S and group M, n=8 each) and in normal healthy controls (n=16). Typically ERPs to repeated items are characterized by more positive waveforms beginning approximately 250 ms post-stimulus. This "old/new effect" has been shown to be relevant for memory processing. The early old/new effect (ca. 300-500 ms) with a frontal distribution is proposed to be a neural correlate of familiarity-based recognition. The late old/new effect (post-500 ms) is assumed to reflect conscious memory retrieval processes. The OCD group S showed a normal early old/new effect and a reduced late old/new effect compared with group M and the control group, but no difference was found between group M and the control group. Source analyses for the late old/new effect showed statistically reduced cerebral activation in the anterior cingulate for OCD group S in contrast to the control group. Additionally, the early old/new effect in OCD group S was negatively correlated with the Y-BOCS total scores, and the late old/new effect was negatively correlated with obsession sub-scores. The severely, not moderately, ill OCD patients showed an impaired conscious recollection of the word-to-be-remembered, which suggested an impairment of working memory capacity in these patients due to a dysfunction in the frontal and cingulate cortex.
Zhang
Yuanyuan
Y
Department of Clinical Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, OE 7110, Medical School Hanover, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, D-30625 Hanover, Germany. Zhang.yuanyuan@mh-hannover.de
Feutl
Sebastian
S
Hauser
Ute
U
Richter-Witte
Claudia
C
Schmorl
Philip
P
Emrich
Hinderk M
HM
Dietrich
Detlef E
DE
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014825:Vocabulary