J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1996; 8:82-85
Copyright © 1996 by American Neuropsychiatric Association
Specificity of neuropsychological impairment in obsessive-compulsive disorder: a comparison with social phobic and normal control subjects
LJ Cohen, E Hollander, CM DeCaria, DJ Stein, D Simeon, MR Liebowitz and BR Aronowitz
Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York 10029, USA
Specificity of neuropsychological dysfunction in obsessive-compulsive
disorder (OCD) was assessed by comparing neuropsychological performance in
65 OCD patients, 17 social phobic patients, and 32 normal control subjects.
Although both patient groups showed visual constructional impairment
relative to normal subjects, only patients with social phobia showed
executive dysfunction. Nonconcurrent state anxiety did not correlate with
neuropsychological performance. Among anxiety disorders, neuropsychological
dysfunction may not be specific to OCD, but the functions implicated may
differ across patient groups.
