An Integrative Model for Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Merging Cognitive Behavioral Theory with Insights from Clinical Neuroscience

Several models have been proposed for the emergence and maintenance of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Although these models have provided important insights and inspired treatment development, no single model has yet sufficiently accounted for the complexed phenotype of the disorder. In the current paper, we propose a novel model that integrates elements from cognitive behavioral models of OCD with neurocognitive approaches to the disorder. This Reciprocal Interaction Model (RIM) for OCD is based on two assumptions: (a) similar observed symptoms can stem from different etiological processes; and (b) neuropsychological deficits (such as reduced response inhibition and overreliance on the habit formation system) and cognitive behavioral processes (such as temporary reduction in anxiety after engaging in compulsive behaviors) mutually affect each other such that abnormalities in one system influence the second system and vice-versa—creating a vicious cycle of pathological processes. Indeed, the bidirectional inhibitory connection between anxiety/obsessions and executive control is at the heart of the model. We begin by briefly reviewing the current models for OCD. We then move on to describe the RIM, the supporting evidence for the model, the model’s predictions, and potential clinical implications

logloRepo-TUPW

Local-global bias dataset associated with Kalanthroff (2023) https://doi.org/10.1080/10615806.2023.226239

logloRepo-EZIG

Local-global bias dataset associated with Akerman et al. (2023) https://doi.org/10.1177/1087054723115395

Stop feeling: inhibition of emotional interference following stop-signal trials

Although a great deal of literature has been dedicated to the mutual links between emotion and the selective attention component of executive control, there is very little data regarding the links between emotion and the inhibitory component of executive control. In the current study we employed an emotional stop-signal task in order to examine whether emotion modulates and is modulated by inhibitory control. Results replicated previous findings showing reduced inhibitory control (longer stop-signal reaction time) following negative, compared to neutral pictures. Most importantly, results show decreased emotional interference following stop-signal trials. These results show that the inhibitory control component of executive control can serve to decrease emotional effects. We suggest that inhibitory control and emotion have a two-way connection in which emotion disrupts inhibitory control and activation of inhibitory control disrupts emotion

Reliable Affordances: A Generative Modeling Approach for Test-Retest Reliability of the Affordances Task

The affordances task serves as an important tool for the assessment of cognition and visuomotor functioning, and yet its test-retest reliability has not been established. In the affordances task participants attend to a goal-directed task (e.g., classifying manipulable objects such as cups and pots) while suppressing their stimulus-driven, irrelevant reactions afforded by these objects (e.g., grasping their handles). This results in cognitive conflicts manifesting at the task level and the response level. In the current study, we assessed the reliability of the affordances task for the first time. While doing so, we referred to the ‘reliability paradox’, according to which behavioral tasks that produce highly replicable group-level effects often yield low test-retest reliability due to the inadequacy of traditional correlation methods in capturing individual differences between participants. Alongside the simple test-retest correlations, we employed a Bayesian generative model that was recently demonstrated to result in a superior, more precise estimation of test-retest reliability. Two-hundred and nighty-five participants completed an online version of the affordances task twice with a one-week gap. Performance on the online version replicated results obtained under in-lab administrations of the task. While the simple correlation method resulted in weak test-retest measures of the different effects, the generative model yielded a good reliability assessment. The current results support the utility of the affordances task as a reliable behavioral tool for the assessment of group level and individual differences in cognitive and visuomotor functioning. The results further support the employment of generative modeling in the study of individual differences

Stopping at a red light: Recruitment of inhibitory control by environmental cues.

Environmental cues can influence basic perceptual and attentional processes especially in an emotional context. In the current study, we aimed to investigate the effect of a non-emotional common environmental cue-a traffic light-on a higher cognitive operation-inhibition. In two experiments, we administered a novel version of the stop-signal task, in which the go task was to determine the color of a traffic light. In order to investigate the influence of each of the cues on inhibitory processes, separate tracking procedures (one for each cue) were applied simultaneously to the stop-signal delay. In Experiment 1, we found that reaction time in no-stop-signal trials was faster when a green traffic light was present, whereas stop-signal reaction time was longer when a red traffic light was present. In Experiment 2, neutral control cues were used in addition to a red and green light. The results indicate that the differences between red and green stem from an association between the color red and stop processes (rather than from the green-go association). These results strengthen previous findings showing the effect of environmental cues on attentional processes and go beyond them by showing that the effect is not restricted to emotional cues. Most importantly, the current study results suggest that environmental cues can also influence complex cognitive operations such as inhibitory control. These results might have specific implications for our understanding of the processes that underlie specific psychiatric disorders characterized by inhibitory deficit

The Influence of Response Inhibition Training on Food Consumption and Implicit Attitudes toward Food among Female Restrained Eaters

Restrained eaters display difficulties engaging in self-control in the presence of food. Undergoing cognitive training to form associations between palatable food and response inhibition was found to improve self-control and influence eating behaviors. The present study assessed the impact of two such response inhibition trainings on food consumption, food-related anxiety, and implicit attitudes toward food among female restrained eaters (Dutch Eating Behavior Questionnaire-restrained eating subscale ≥ 2.5). In Experiment 1, 64 restrained eaters completed either one of two training procedures in which they were asked to classify food vs. non-food images: a food-response training, in which stop cues were always associated with non-food images, or a balanced food-response/inhibition training, in which participants inhibited motor actions to food and non-food stimuli equally. The results revealed reduced snack consumption following the food-response/inhibition training compared to the food-response training. The food-response training was associated with increased levels of food-related anxiety. In Experiment 2, the same training procedures were administered to 47 restrained eaters, and implicit attitudes toward palatable foods were assessed. The results revealed an increase in positive implicit attitudes toward palatable foods in the food-response/inhibition group but not in the food-response training group. The results suggest that balancing response inhibition and execution across food and non-food stimuli may reduce overeating while retaining positive attitudes toward food among female restrained eaters

Results of the different traffic light conditions in no-stop-signal and stop-signal trials.

<p>Results of the different traffic light conditions in no-stop-signal and stop-signal trials.</p