title: Verbal and nonverbal memory processing in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: its relationship to clinical variables.
abstract: Memory deficits have been reported in several neuropsychological studies of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Dysfunction in nonverbal memory has been consistently reported, whereas findings on verbal memory are more heterogeneous. The authors studied 50 patients with OCD who were matched for sex, age, educational level, and hand dominance with 50 healthy controls (HC). Cognitive performance in both groups was assessed on verbal and nonverbal memory tasks, and several clinical variables were also assessed in the patient group. Patients with OCD showed a pattern of cognitive dysfunction with alterations in areas of nonverbal memory (recall and recognition), and verbal memory (learning and recall). Older age at onset of OCD was associated with poorer performance on verbal memory tasks. Low scores on some verbal memory tasks were associated with severity of OCD, and nonverbal memory was influenced by depressive symptoms. The study suggests the existence of dysfunction in the execution of verbal and nonverbal memory tasks in OCD; the influence of clinical variables depends on the specific neuropsychological function.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Hospital Universitario de Bellvitge, Barcelona, Spain. csegalas@csub.scs.es
authors.forename: Cinto
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Segalàs
authors.forename: Pino
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Alonso
authors.forename: Javier
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Labad
authors.forename: Nuria
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jaurrieta
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Real
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jiménez
authors.forename: José Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Menchón
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vallejo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis