The role of working memory in compulsive checking and OCD: A systematic classification of 58 experimental findings

Clinical Psychology Review

Volumn 31, Issue 6, 2011, Pages 1004-1021

  Harkin, Ben ^a   Kessler, Klaus ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

Binding complexity; Episodic buffer; Executive function; Memory load; Obsessive compulsive disorder

Indexed keywords

ANXIETY; CLASSIFICATION; COGNITION; COGNITIVE DEFECT; COGNITIVE THERAPY; COMPULSION; COMPULSIVE CHECKING; DECISION MAKING; DISEASE CLASSIFICATION; EXECUTIVE FUNCTION; HUMAN; MEMORY CONSOLIDATION; MEMORY DISORDER; MENTAL PERFORMANCE; MENTAL TASK; OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER; REVIEW; SELECTIVE ATTENTION; SPATIAL MEMORY; VERBAL MEMORY; VISUAL MEMORY; VISUOSPATIAL MEMORY; WORKING MEMORY;

COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR; EXECUTIVE FUNCTION; HUMANS; MEMORY, SHORT-TERM; NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS; OBSESSIVE-COMPULSIVE DISORDER;

EID: 79959921798     PISSN: 02727358     EISSN: 18737811     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/j.cpr.2011.06.004     Document Type: Review

References (110)

1. Allen R.J., Baddeley A.D., Hitch G.J. Is the binding of visual features in working memory resource-demanding?. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General 2006, 135(2):298-313.
2. Baddeley A. Working memory 1986, Clarendon Press, Oxford, England.
3. Baddeley A. The episodic buffer: A new component of working memory?. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2000, 4(11):417-423.
4. Baddeley A., Vallar G., Wilson B. Sentence comprehension and phonological memory - Some neuropsychological evidence. Attention and Performance 1987, (12):509-529.
5. Bannon S., Gonsalvez C.J., Croft R.J. Processing impairments in OCD: It is more than inhibition!. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2008, 46(6):689-700.
6. Bannon S., Gonsalvez C.J., Croft R.J., Boyce P.M. Executive functions in obsessive-compulsive disorder: State or trait deficits?. The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 2006, 40(11-12):1031-1038.
7. Benton A.L. The Revised Visual Retention Test 1974, Psychological Corporation, New York.
8. Bohne A., Savage C.R., Deckersbach T., Keuthen N.J., Jenike M.A., Tuschen-Caffier B., et al. Visuospatial abilities, memory, and executive functioning in trichotillomania and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology 2005, 27(4):385-399.
9. Boldrini M., Del Pace L., Placidi G.P., Keilp J., Ellis S.P., Signori S., et al. Selective cognitive deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder compared to panic disorder with agoraphobia. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 2005, 111(2):150-158.
10. Buhlmann U., Deckersbach T., Engelhard I., Cook L.M., Rauch S.L., Kathmann N., et al. Cognitive retraining for organizational impairment in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Research 2006, 144(2-3):109-116.
11. Cabrera A.R., McNally R.J., Savage C.R. Missing the forest for the trees? Deficient memory for linguistic gist in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychological Medicine 2001, 31(6):1089-1094.
12. Cha K.R., Koo M.-S., Kim C.-H., Kim J.W., Oh W.-J., Suh H.S., et al. Nonverbal memory dysfunction in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients with checking compulsions. Depression and Anxiety 2008, 25(11):E115-E120.
13. Chamberlain S.R., Blackwell A.D., Fineberg N.A., Robbins T.W., Sahakian J. The neuropsychology of obsessive compulsive disorder: The importance of failures in cognitive and behavioural inhibition as candidate endophenotypic markers. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 2005, 29(3):399-419.
14. Chamberlain S.R., Blackwell A.D., Fineberg N.A., Robbins T.W., Sahakian B.J. Strategy implementation in obsessive-compulsive disorder and trichotillomania. Psychological Medicine 2006, 36(1):91-97.
15. Chiulli S.J., Haaland K.Y., Larue A., Garry P.J. Impact of age on drawing the Rey-Osterrieth Figure. The Clinical Neuropsychologist 1995, 9(3):219-224.
16. Ciesielski K.T., Hamalainen M.S., Geller D.A., Wilhelm S., Goldsmith T.E., Ahlfors S.P. Dissociation between MEG alpha modulation and performance accuracy on visual working memory task in obsessive compulsive disorder. Human Brain Mapping 2007, 28(12):1401-1414.
17. Coles M.E., Heimberg R.G. Memory biases in the anxiety disorders: Current status. Clinical Psychology Review 2002, 22(4):587-627.
18. Coughlan A.K., Hollows S.E. The adult memory and information procesing batery 1985, St. James's University Hopital, Leeds.
19. Cowan A. An embedded-process model of working memory. Models of working memory: Mechanisms of active maintenance and executive control 1999, 62-101. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. A. a. S., P. Miyake (Eds.).
20. de Geus F., Denys D.A., Sitskoorn M.M., Westenberg H.G. Attention and cognition in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 2007, 61(1):45-53.
21. Deckersbach T., McMurrich S., Ogutha J., Savage C.R., Sachs G., Rauch S.L. Characteristics of non-verbal memory impairment in bipolar disorder: The role of encoding strategies. Psychological Medicine 2004, 34(5):823-832.
22. Deckersbach T., Otto M.W., Savage C.R., Baer L., Jenike M.A. The relationship between semantic organization and memory in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2000, 69(2):101-107.
23. Deckersbach T., Savage C.R., Dougherty D.D., Bohne A., Loh R., Nierenberg A., et al. Spontaneous and directed application of verbal learning strategies in bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Bipolar Disorders 2005, 7(2):166-175.
24. Delis D.C., Kramer J.H., Kaplan E., Ober B.A. The California Verbal Learning Test 1988, The Psychological Corporation, San Antonio, Texas.
25. Elliott R., McKenna P.J., Robbins T.W., Sahakian B.J. Neuropsychological evidence for frontostriatal dysfunction in schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine 1995, 25(3):619-630.
26. Enright S.J., Beech A.R. Reduced cognitive inhibition in obsessive-compulsive disorder. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 1993, 32(Pt 1):67-74.
27. Enright S.J., Beech A.R., Claridge G.S. A further investigation of cognitive inhibition in obsessive-compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders. Personality and Individual Differences 1995, 19(4):535-542.
28. Ericsson K.A., Chase W.G., Faloon S. Acquisition of a memory skill. Science 1980, 208(4448):1181-1182.
29. Exner C., Martin V., Rief W. Self-focused ruminations and memory deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Cognitive Therapy and Research 2009, 33(2):163-174.
30. Fenger M.M., Gade A., Adams K.H., Hansen E.S., Bolwig T.G., Knudsen G.M. Cognitive deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder on tests of frontal lobe functions. Nordic Journal of Psychiatry 2005, 59(1):39-44.
31. Ferreri F., Lapp L.K., Peretti C.S. Current research on cognitive aspects of anxiety disorders. Current Opinion in Psychiatry 2011, 24(1):49-54.
32. Foa E.B., Amir N., Gershuny B., Molnar C., Kozak M.J. Implicit and explicit memory in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 1997, 11(2):119-129.
33. Goodwin A.H., Sher K.J. Deficits in set-shifting ability in nonclinical compulsive checkers. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment 1992, 14(1):81-92.
34. Greisberg S., McKay D. Neuropsychology of obsessive-compulsive disorder: A review and treatment implications. Clinical Psychology Review 2003, 23(1):95-117.
35. Harkin B., Kessler K. How checking breeds doubt: Reduced performance in a simple working memory task. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2009, 47(6):504-512.
36. Harkin B., Kessler K. How checking as a cognitive style influences working memory performance. Applied Cognitive Psychology 2011, 25(2):219-228.
37. Harkin, B., & Kessler, K. (in press). Deficient inhibition-of-return in subclinical OCD when attention is directed to the threatening aspects of a stimulus.
38. Harkin B., Rutherford H., Kessler K. Impaired executive functioning in subclinical compulsive checking with ecologically valid stimuli in a working memory task. Frontiers in Psychology 2011, 2.
39. Harvey N.S. Neurological factors in obsessive-compulsive disorder. The British Journal of Psychiatry 1987, 150:567-568.
40. Head D., Bolton D., Hymas N. Deficit in cognitive shifting ability in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Biological Psychiatry 1989, 25(7):929-937.
41. Henseler I., Gruber O., Kraft S., Krick C., Reith W., Falkai P. Compensatory hyperactivations as markers of latent working memory dysfunctions in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: An fMRI study. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience 2008, 33(3):209-215.
42. Hermans D., Engelen U., Grouwels L., Joos E., Lemmens J., Pieters G. Cognitive confidence in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Distrusting perception, attention and memory. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2008, 46(1):98-113.
43. Hinton G.E., McClelland J.L., Rumelhart D.E. Distributed representations. Parallel distributed processing: Explorations in the microstructure of cognition 1986, Vol. 1:77-109. MIT Press, Cambridge.
44. Hoenig K., Hochrein A., Muller D.J., Wagner M. Different negative priming impairements in schizophrenia and subgroups of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychological Medicine 2002, 32:459-468.
45. Hwang S.H., Kwon J.S., Shin Y.W., Lee K.J., Kim Y.Y., Kim M.S. Neuropsychological profiles of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: Early onset versus late onset. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 2007, 13(1):30-37.
46. Hymas N., Lees A., Bolton D., Epps K., Head D. The neurology of obsessional slowness. Brain 1991, 114:2203-2233.
47. Iddon J.L., McKenna P.J., Sahakian B.J., Robbins T.W. Impaired generation and use of strategy in schizophrenia: evidence from visuospatial and verbal tasks. Psychological Medicine 1998, 28(5):1049-1062.
48. Irak M., Flament M.F. Attention in sub-clinical obsessive-compulsive checkers. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 2009, 23(3):320-326.
49. Jang J.H., Kim H.S., Ha T.H., Shin N.Y., Kang D.-H., Choi J.-S., et al. Nonverbal memory and organizational dysfunctions are related with distinct symptom dimensions in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Research 2010, 180(2-3):93-98.
50. Kessler K., Kiefer M. Disturbing visual working memory: Electrophysiological evidence for a role of the prefrontal cortex in recovery from interference. Cerebral Cortex 2005, 15(7):1075-1087.
51. Kim M.S., Park S.J., Shin M.S., Kwon J.S. Neuropsychological profile in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder over a period of 4-month treatment. Journal of Psychiatric Research 2002, 36(4):257-265.
52. Kimura D. Right temporal lobe damage. Archives of Neurology 1963, 8:264-271.
53. Kuelz A.K., Hohagen F., Voderholzer U. Neuropsychological performance in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A critical review. Biological Psychology 2004, 65(3):185-236.
54. Kuelz A.K., Riemann D., Halsband U., Vielhaber K., Unterrainer J., Kordon A., et al. Neuropsychological impairment in obsessive-compulsive disorder - Improvement over the course of cognitive behavioral treatment. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology 2006, 28(8):1273-1287.
55. Luck S.J., Vogel E.K. The capacity of visual working memory for features and conjunctions. Nature 1997, 390(6657):279-281.
56. MacDonald P.A., Antony M.M., Macleod C.M., Richter M.A. Memory and confidence in memory judgements among individuals with obsessive compulsive disorder and non-clinical controls. Behaviour Research and Therapy 1997, 35(6):497-505.
57. Martin A., Wiggs C.L., Altemus M., Rubenstein C., Murphy D.L. Working-memory as assessed by subject-ordered tasks in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology 1995, 17(5):786-792.
58. Martinot J.L., Allilaire J.F., Mazoyer B.M., Hantouche E., Huret J.D., Legaut-Demare F., et al. Obsessive-compulsive disorder: A clinical, neuropsychological and positron emission tomography study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 1990, 82(3):233-242.
59. Mataix-Cols D., Junque C., Sanchez-Turet M., Vallejo J., Verger K., Barrios M. Neuropsychological functioning in a subclinical obsessive-compulsive sample. Biological Psychiatry 1999, 45(7):898-904.
60. McNally R.J., Kohlbeck P.A. Reality monitoring in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy 1993, 31(3):249-253.
61. Miller G.A. The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review 1956, 63(81-97).
62. Morein-Zamir S., Craig K.J., Ersche K.D., Abbott S., Muller U., Fineberg N.A., et al. Impaired visuospatial associative memory and attention in obsessive compulsive disorder but no evidence for differential dopaminergic modulation. Psychopharmacology 2010, 212(3):357-367.
63. Moritz S., Fischer B.K., Hottenrott B., Kellner M., Fricke S., Randjbar S., et al. Words may not be enough! No increased emotional Stroop effect in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2008, 46(9):1101-1104.
64. Moritz S., Kloss M., Jahn H., Schick M., Hand I. Impact of comorbid depressive symptoms on nonverbal memory and visuospatial performance in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry 2003, 8(4):261-272.
65. Moritz S., Von Muhlenen A., Randjbar S., Fricke S., Jelinek L. Evidence for an attentional bias for washing- and checking-relevant stimuli in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society 2009, 15(3):365-371.
66. Muller J., Roberts J.E. Memory and attention in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A review. Journal of Anxiety Disorders 2005, 19(1):1-28.
67. Murdock B.B. Serial position effect of free-recall. Journal of Experimental Psychology 1962, 64(5):482-488.
68. Olley A., Malhi G., Sachdev P. Memory and executive functioning in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A selective review. Journal of Affective Disorders 2007, 104(1-3):15-23.
69. Omori I.M., Murata Y., Yamanishi T., Nakaaki S., Akechi T., Mikuni M., et al. The differential impact of executive attention dysfunction on episodic memory in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients with checking symptoms vs. those with washing symptoms. Journal of Psychiatric Research 2007, 41(9):776-784.
70. Osterrieth P.A. Filetest de copie d'une figure complex: Contribution a l'etude de la perception et de la memoire. Archives de Psychologie 1944, 30(286-356).
71. Park H.S., Shin Y.W., Ha T.H., Shin M.S., Kim Y.Y., Lee Y.H., et al. Effect of cognitive training focusing on organizational strategies in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 2006, 60(6):718-726.
72. Penades R., Catalan R., Andres S., Salamero M., Gasto C. Executive function and nonverbal memory in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Research 2005, 133(1):81-90.
73. Petrides M., Milner B. Deficits on Subject-Ordered Tasks after Frontal-Lobe and Temporal-Lobe Lesions in Man. Neuropsychologia 1982, 20(3):249-262.
74. Purcell R., Maruff P., Kyrios M., Pantelis C. Cognitive deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder on tests of frontal-striatal function. Biological Psychiatry 1998, 43(5):348-357.
75. Purcell R., Maruff P., Kyrios M., Pantelis C. Neuropsychological deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder: A comparison with unipolar depression, panic disorder, and normal controls. Archives of General Psychiatry 1998, 55(5):415-423.
76. Rachman S. A cognitive theory of compulsive checking. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2002, 40(6):625-639.
77. Rachman S., Thordarson D.S., Shafran R., Woody S.R. Perceived responsibility: Structure and significance. Behaviour Research and Therapy 1995, 33(7):779-784.
78. Radomsky A.S., Alcolado G.M. Don't even think about checking: Mental checking causes memory distrust. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry 2010, 41(4):345-351.
79. Rampacher F., Lennertz L., Vogeley A., Schulze-Rauschenbach S., Kathmann N., Falkai P., et al. Evidence for specific cognitive deficits in visual information processing in patients with OCD compared to patients with unipolar depression. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 2010, 34(6):984-991.
80. Rao N.P., Reddy Y.C.J., Kumar K.J., Kandavel T., Chandrashekar C.R. Are neuropsychological deficits trait markers in OCD?. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry 2008, 32(6):1574-1579.
81. Roh K.S., Shin M.S., Kim M.S., Ha T.H., Shin Y.W., Lee K.J., et al. Persistent cognitive dysfunction in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: A naturalistic study. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 2005, 59(5):539-545.
82. Rotge J.Y., Clair A.H., Jaafari N., Hantouche E.G., Pelissolo A., Guehl D., et al. A challenging task for assessment of checking behaviors in obsessive-compulsive disorder. European Neuropsychopharmacology 2008, 17:S300-S301.
83. Roth R.M., Milovan D., Baribeau J., O'Connor K. Neuropsychological functioning in early- and late-onset obsessive-compulsive disorder. The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 2005, 17(2):208-213.
84. Roth R.M., Milovan D.L., Baribeau J., O'Connor K., Todorov C. Organizational strategy use in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry Research 2004, 128(3):267-272.
85. Rubenstein C.S., Peynircioglu Z.F., Chambless D.L., Pigott T.A. Memory in sub-clinical obsessive-compulsive checkers. Behaviour Research and Therapy 1993, 31(8):759-765.
86. Sahakian B.J., Morris R.G., Evenden J.L., Heald A., Levy R., Philpot M., et al. A comparative-study of visuospatial memory and learning in Alzheimer-type dementia and Parkinsons-Disease. Brain 1988, 111:695-718.
87. Salkovskis P.M. Understanding and treating obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy 1999, 37(Suppl. 1):S29-S52.
88. Sanz M., Molina V., Calcedo A., Martin-Loeches M., Rubia F.J. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test and the assessment of frontal function in obsessive-compulsive patients: An event-related potential study. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry 2001, 6(2):109-129.
89. Savage C.R., Baer L., Keuthen N.J., Brown H.D., Rauch S.L., Jenike M.A. Organizational strategies mediate nonverbal memory impairment in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Biological Psychiatry 1999, 45(7):905-916.
90. Savage C.R., Deckersbach T., Wilhelm S., Rauch S.L., Baer L., Reid T., et al. Strategic processing and episodic memory impairment in obsessive compulsive disorder. Neuropsychology 2000, 14(1):141-151.
91. Sawamura K., Nakashima Y., Inoue M., Kurita H. Short-term verbal memory deficits in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences 2005, 59(5):527-532.
92. Segalas C., Alonso P., Labad J., Jaurrieta N., Real E., Jimenez S., et al. Verbal and nonverbal memory processing in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder: Its relationship to clinical variables. Neuropsychology 2008, 22(2):262-272.
93. Sher K.J., Mann B., Frost R.O. Cognitive dysfunction in compulsive checkers - Further explorations. Behaviour Research and Therapy 1984, 22(5):493-502.
94. Shin M.S., Park S.J., Kim M.S., Lee Y.H., Ha T.H., Kwon J.S. Deficits of organizational strategy and visual memory in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Neuropsychology 2004, 18(4):665-672.
95. Simpson H.B., Rosen W., Huppert J.D., Lin S.H., Foa E.B., Liebowitz M.R. Are there reliable neuropsychological deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder?. Journal of Psychiatric Research 2006, 40(3):247-257.
96. Smith E.E., Jonides J. Neuroscience - Storage and executive processes in the frontal lobes. Science 1999, 283(5408):1657-1661.
97. Tallis F. The neuropsychology of obsessive-compulsive disorder: A review and consideration of clinical implications. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 1997, 36(Pt 1):3-20.
98. Tallis F., Pratt P., Jamani N. Obsessive compulsive disorder, checking, and non-verbal memory: A neuropsychological investigation. Behaviour Research and Therapy 1999, 37(2):161-166.
99. Thordarson D.S., Radomsky A.S., Rachman S., Shafran R., Sawchuk C.N., Ralph Hakstian A. The Vancouver Obsessional Compulsive Inventory (VOCI). Behaviour Research and Therapy 2004, 42(11):1289-1314.
100. Treisman A. The binding problem. Current Opinion in Neurobiology 1996, 6(2):171-178.
101. Tuna S., Tekcan A.I., Topcuoglu V. Memory and metamemory in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2005, 43(1):15-27.
102. van den Hout M., Kindt M. Phenomenological validity of an OCD-memory model and the remember/know distinction. Behaviour Research and Therapy 2003, 41(3):369-378.
103. van der Wee N.J., Ramsey N.F., Jansma J.M., Denys D.A., van Megen H.J., Westenberg H.M., et al. Spatial working memory deficits in obsessive compulsive disorder are associated with excessive engagement of the medial frontal cortex. NeuroImage 2003, 20(4):2271-2280.
104. van der Wee N.J., Ramsey N.F., van Megen H.J., Denys D., Westenberg H.G., Kahn R.S. Spatial working memory in obsessive-compulsive disorder improves with clinical response: A functional MRI study. European Neuropsychopharmacology 2007, 17(1):16-23.
105. Veale D.M., Sahakian B.J., Owen A.M., Marks I.M. Specific cognitive deficits in tests sensitive to frontal lobe dysfunction in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychological Medicine 1996, 26(6):1261-1269.
106. Watkins L.H., Sahakian B.J., Robertson M.M., Veale D.M., Rogers R.D., Pickard K.M., et al. Executive function in Tourette's syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychological Medicine 2005, 35(4):571-582.
107. Wechsler D., Stone C.P. Manual for the Wechsler Memory Scale 1945, Psychological Corporation, New York.
108. Wolters G., Raffone A. Coherence and recurrency: Maintenance, control and integration in working memory. Cognitive Processing 2008, 9(1):1-17.
109. Zielinski C.M., Taylor M.A., Juzwin K.R. Neuropsychological deficits in obsessive-compulsive disorder. Neuropsychiatry, Neuropsychology, and Behavioral Neurology 1991, 4(2):110-126.
110. Zitterl W., Urban C., Linzmayer L., Aigner M., Demal U., Semler B., et al. Memory deficits in patients with DSM-IV obsessive-compulsive disorder. Psychopathology 2001, 34(3):113-117.