Cognitive performance in children and adolescents at high-risk for obsessive-compulsive disorder

Abstract

Background: Cognitive performance has been studied in adults with obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) and in adult relatives of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) Meanwhile, few studies have been conducted with children under the same conditions. This study compared the neurocognitive domains previously associated with dysfunction in OCD, especially visuoconstructive ability, visuospatial memory, executive functions, and intelligence, in children and adolescents at high risk (HR) for OCD (n = 18) and non-OCD controls (NOC) (n = 31). Methods: For the HR group, we considered the first-degree relatives of patients with OCD that present OCS, but do not meet diagnostic criteria for OCD. Psychiatric diagnosis was assessed by experienced clinicians using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV and OCS severity was measured by the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. Neurocognitive assessment was performed with a comprehensive neuropsychological battery. Performance on the cognitive domains was compared between groups using Multivariate Analysis of Variance, whereas performance on the neuropsychological variables was compared between groups using independent t-tests in a cognitive subdomain analysis. Results: The cognitive domain analysis revealed a trend towards significance for impairments in the motor and processing speed domain (p = 0.019; F = 3.12) in the HR group. Moreover, the cognitive subdomain analysis identified a statistically significant underperformance in spatial working memory in the HR group when compared to the NOC group (p = 0.005; t = − 2.94), and a trend towards significance for impairments in non-verbal memory and visuoconstructive tasks in the HR group. Conclusions: Our results suggest impairments in spatial working memory and motor and processing speed in a non-clinical sample of HR participants. Considering the preliminary nature of our findings, further studies investigating these neurocognitive domains as potential predictors of pediatric OCD are warranted.

Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms, Polygenic Risk Score, and Thalamic Development in Children From the Brazilian High-Risk Cohort for Mental Conditions (BHRCS)

“…Despite not fulfilling the diagnostic criteria and having relatively low levels of symptom severity, subclinical OCS have been associated with psychiatric comorbidities and impaired functioning in the literature ( 5 , 41 , 42 ). A recent neuropsychological study of children and adolescents with OCS that were first-degree relatives of an individual with OCD identified impairments in spatial working memory and a trend in significance for impairment in motor and processing speed ( 43 ). Here we found that the presence of OCS may be directly associated with right thalamic volumes change, and the thalamus is a key element of the cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuits that are implicated in the pathophysiology of OCD ( 44 ).…”

Comparison of retrospective and prospective memory in subtypes of obsessive-compulsive disorder

“…5 Research literature indicates that individuals with OCD have impairment of some cognitive functions such as executive functions, information processing speed, attention, and memory. 6 Evidence suggests that patients with OCD function differently in some memory-related tasks, especially, those of retrospective and prospective memory. 7 , 8 Vafa et al studied retrospective, prospective, and short-term memory in patients with OCD and non-patients.…”

Gender non-binary adolescents’ somatic and mental health throughout 2020

“…Impaired decision making has not only been detected in participants with OCD, but it has been suggested that it can be a core feature of OCD (da Rocha et al, 2011). There is also evidence toward neuropsychological deficits in pediatric OCD populations considering visual memory and spatial working memory (Andrés et al, 2007;Bernardes et al, 2020). While some people with OCD complain about having difficulties concentrating, there is no demonstrated neurobiological overlap between OCD and ADHD.…”