The differential impact of executive attention dysfunction on episodic memory in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients with checking symptoms vs. those with washing symptoms

An attentional inhibitory deficit for irrelevant information in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Evidence from ERPs

“…OCD is a heterogeneous disorder, composed of different subtypes, probably with unique neuroanatomical and psychological correlates (Mataix-Cols et al, 2004;McKay et al, 2004). For example, a recent study showed that "checkers" had more deficits in general memory and cognitive flexibility than "washers" (Omori et al, 2007). Further studies are required to examine the deficits in attentional inhibition in different subtypes of OCD.…”

Neuropsychological differences between obsessive-compulsive washers and checkers: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…In contrast, Ceschi, van der Linden, Dunker, Perroud, and Brédard (2003) did not find significant nonverbal memory differences between washers and checkers. Studies examining executive functions in OCD patients demonstrated that checkers performed significantly worse than washers in planning tasks (Dittrich & Johansen, 2013;Nedeljkovic et al, 2009), while Omori et al (2007) and Penadés et al (2007) observed that checkers experienced deficits in response inhibition. Altogether, these studies yielded inconsistent results that have not been summarized so far.…”

Nonverbal memory dysfunction in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients with checking compulsions

“…Although Abbruzzese et al [1993] subdivided the OCD patients into subgroups based on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), the results showed no differences among the different subtypes of OCD because of a small sample size. A recent study with an experimental design similar to ours attempted to determine the differential impact of executive attention dysfunction on episodic memory in OCD patients with checking symptoms versus those with washing symptoms [Omori et al, 2007]; nonetheless, the study did not include healthy controls and any assessment of nonverbal memory function. Thus, at present, it is still unclear whether there exists a specific association between the checking symptoms in OCD patients and nonverbal memory impairments.…”