Perseveration causes automatization of checking behavior in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Dek, Eliane C.P.; Hout, Marcel A. van den; Engelhard, Iris M.; Giele, Catharina L.; Cath, Daniëlle C.

doi:10.1016/j.brat.2015.05.005

Cited by 17 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Avoidance behaviours can be particularly prone to habitual and rigid control (Gillan, Urcelay, & Robbins, 2016). Present results also dovetail with the finding that repeated checking specifically leads to automatisation of checking behaviour not only in patients but also in healthy individuals (Dek, van den Hout, Engelhard, Giele, & Cath, 2015). Thus, some excessive checking may be triggered from a once-appropriate high level of checking that does not subside due to habit or automaticity, even when the need for greater checking diminishes.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Free operant observing in humans: a translational approach to compulsive certainty seeking

Morein‐Zamir

Shahper

Fineberg

et al. 2018

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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Excessive checking is reported in non-clinical populations and is a pervasive symptom in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). We implemented a free-operant task in humans, previously used in rats, wherein participants can “check” to reduce uncertainty. Participants can press an observing key to ascertain which of two main keys will, if pressed, currently lead to rewards. Over a series of experiments, we found that punishment robustly increased observing in non-clinical participants and that observing persisted long after punishment was removed. Moreover, participants appeared insensitive to the initial costs of checking, and a threefold increase in the effort required to observe served to deter participants only to a limited degree. We also assessed observing in OCD patients with no known comorbidities. The patients observed more than control participants and were abnormally insensitive to the introduction of punishment. These findings support the translational value of the task, with similar behaviours in humans and rodents. This paradigm may serve as a unifying platform, promoting interaction between different approaches to analyse adaptive and maladaptive certainty seeking behaviours. Specifically, we demonstrate how seemingly disparate theoretical and empirical approaches can be reconciled synergistically to promote a combined behavioural and cognitive account of certainty seeking.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 89%

Free operant observing in humans: a translational approach to compulsive certainty seeking

Morein‐Zamir

Shahper

Fineberg

et al. 2018

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology

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“…Moreover, in contrast to a fear-based hypothesis of OCD, checking behaviour in general becomes more automatised over time, i.e. requiring less conscious effort ( Dek et al, 2015 ).…”

Section: Stress Anxiety and Habitmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of habit in compulsivity

Gillan

Robbins

Sahakian

et al. 2016

European Neuropsychopharmacology

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177

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Compulsivity has been recently characterized as a manifestation of an imbalance between the brain׳s goal-directed and habit-learning systems. Habits are perhaps the most fundamental building block of animal learning, and it is therefore unsurprising that there are multiple ways in which the development and execution of habits can be promoted/discouraged. Delineating these neurocognitive routes may be critical to understanding if and how habits contribute to the many faces of compulsivity observed across a range of psychiatric disorders. In this review, we distinguish the contribution of excessive stimulus-response habit learning from that of deficient goal-directed control over action and response inhibition, and discuss the role of stress and anxiety as likely contributors to the transition from goal-directed action to habit. To this end, behavioural, pharmacological, neurobiological and clinical evidence are synthesised and a hypothesis is formulated to capture how habits fit into a model of compulsivity as a trans-diagnostic psychiatric trait.

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“…Acute administration of 8-OH-DPAT to rats results in a decrease in spontaneous alternation behavior in the T-maze. Instead of spontaneously switching the arm that is entered, rats who receive the drug tend to return repeatedly to the same arm, which may parallel the perseverative behavior often observed in OCD but could also indicate defects in working memory (Dek et al, 2015). Chronic fluoxetine prevents this drug-induced behavior, potentially providing predictive validity; whereas desipramine does not, providing evidence of specificity (Fernandez-Guasti et al, 2003).…”

Section: Pharmacological Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rodent models of obsessive compulsive disorder: Evaluating validity to interpret emerging neurobiology

Zike

Hong

et al. 2017

Neuroscience

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Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common neuropsychiatric disorder with unknown molecular underpinnings. Identification of genetic and non-genetic risk factors has largely been elusive, primarily because of a lack of power. In contrast, neuroimaging has consistently implicated the cortico-striatal-thalamo-cortical (CSTC) circuits in OCD. Pharmacological treatment studies also show specificity, with consistent response of OCD symptoms to chronic treatment with serotonin reuptake inhibitors; although most patients are left with residual impairment. In theory, animal models could provide a bridge from the neuroimaging and pharmacology data to an understanding of pathophysiology at the cellular and molecular level. Several mouse models have been proposed using genetic, immunological, pharmacological, and optogenetic tools. These experimental model systems allow testing of hypotheses about the origins of compulsive behavior. Several models have generated behavior that appears compulsive-like, particularly excessive grooming, and some have demonstrated response to chronic serotonin reuptake inhibitors, establishing both face validity and predictive validity. Construct validity is more difficult to establish in the context of a limited understanding of OCD risk factors. Our current models may help us to dissect the circuits and molecular pathways that can elicit OCD-relevant behavior in rodents. We can hope that this growing understanding, coupled with developing technology, will prepare us when robust OCD risk factors are better understood.

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Perseveration causes automatization of checking behavior in obsessive-compulsive disorder

Cited by 17 publications

References 42 publications

Free operant observing in humans: a translational approach to compulsive certainty seeking

Free operant observing in humans: a translational approach to compulsive certainty seeking

The role of habit in compulsivity

Rodent models of obsessive compulsive disorder: Evaluating validity to interpret emerging neurobiology

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