title: The nature of prospective memory deficit in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
abstract: We comprehensively examined prospective memory (PM) performance in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and explored the cognitive and psychopathological correlates of PM in this clinical population. Fifty-eight OCD patients and 58 healthy controls were assessed with computer-based PM tasks and related neurocognitive functions, and the participants also reported frequency of PM failures and compulsive behaviours in daily life. OCD patients had intact activity-based PM performance but had lower accuracy in time-based PM and longer reaction time to event-based PM cues compared to healthy controls. Among the neurocognitive functions, both the WCST (perseverative error) and the letter number span correlated with time-based PM. OCD patients reported similar number of PM failures in daily life as controls, which correlated with their intact event-based PM performance, suggesting a generally good insight into their PM functions. Neither clinician-assessed nor self-reported OCD symptoms correlated with PM performance. This study indicates that PM impairment tends to vary with the PM cue types in OCD patients. In addition, certain executive functions (i.e., mental shifting and updating) may contribute to time-based PM impairment in patients with OCD.
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Tian-Xiao
authors.initials: TX
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Centre for Studies of Psychological Application, School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Zi-Wen
authors.initials: ZW
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Ya
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Fu-Lei
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Psychiatry Hospital, Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Guo-Dong
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Miao
authors.affiliation: Menzies Health Institute Queensland and School of Applied Psychology, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia.
authors.forename: David H K
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Shum
authors.affiliation: Castle Peak Hospital, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China.
authors.forename: Eric F C
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: Cheung
authors.affiliation: Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience, Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: rckchan@psych.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Raymond C K
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Chan
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology; D000328:Adult; D003463:Cues; D056344:Executive Function; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D009771:Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011930:Reaction Time; D012718:Set, Psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Mental shifting; Obsessive–compulsive disorder; Prospective memory