title: An attentional inhibitory deficit for irrelevant information in obsessive-compulsive disorder: evidence from ERPs.
abstract: Previous studies on attentional bias have demonstrated that patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) have an overall longer reaction time (RT) for various stimuli. It was hypothesized that this general slowness may indicate the presence of an attentional inhibition deficit in OCD. To test the hypothesis, event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in 31 non-medicated OCD patients and 29 age-, handedness- and sex-matched healthy controls while they performed an emotional Stroop task (EST). Relative to the control subjects, the OCD patients had similar interference effects for negative words, but an overall longer RT and larger P2 and P3 amplitudes to all words. These results support the notion that OCD is characterized by an attentional inhibitory dysfunction for irrelevant information.
authors.affiliation: Medical Psychological Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, PR China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Center for Studies of Psychological Application, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, PR China.
authors.forename: Mingtian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.affiliation: Medical Psychological Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, PR China; Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha 410011, PR China. Electronic address: xiongzhaozhu@163.com.
authors.forename: Xiongzhao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Medical Psychological Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, PR China; National Technology Institute of Psychiatry, Key Laboratory of Psychiatry and Mental Health of Hunan Province, Central South University, Changsha 410011, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: Medical Psychological Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, PR China.
authors.forename: Jiaojiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: Medical Psychological Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, PR China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Medical Psychological Institute, Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha 410011, PR China.
authors.forename: Wanting
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007266:Inhibition, Psychological; D008297:Male; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attentional inhibition; Emotional Stroop task (EST); Event-related potentials (ERPs); Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD)