Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a highly debilitating neuropsychiatric condition characterized by intrusive unwanted thoughts and/or repetitive, compulsive behavior or mental rituals. The exact nature of the neurocognitive deficit behind the clinical symptoms in OCD is still unclear. There is a growing amount of evidence for deficit of the executive system - shifting and inhibition components - in OCD, which is strongly related to fronto-basal loop dysfunctions (e.g. Chamberlain et al., 2005; Olley et al., 2007). In the first part of the talk we present the key neuropsychological models of OCD along with our main results regarding specific patterns of executive deficit in OCD. In addition to the executive impairment, many studies found impaired visual and spatial memory performance in this disorder (e.g. Moritz et al., 2003). In the second part of the talk we present two recent studies regarding visuo-spatial memory functions in a pool of Hungarian patients diagnosed with OCD. In Study 1 we applied the Rey Complex Figure Task and found that OCD patient performed significantly poorer in the copy and recall phase of the task in comparison to matched healthy control group. In Study 2 we developed a computer-based Visual Pattern Task to investigate the eye movement correlates of cognitive processes involved in visuo-spatial working memory functions. We will discuss the possible relationships between eye movement patterns, cognitive deficits and symptom severity.
Keywords: executive functions, visuo-spatial memory, eye movement patterns, OC
