Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Memory and strategic processing in first-degree relatives of obsessive compulsive patients

2010; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 40; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0033291710000310

1469-8978

Cinto Segalàs, Pino Alonso, Eva Real, Antonio Verdejo‐García, A. Miñambres, Javier Labad, Alberto Pertusa, Borja García‐Bueno, Susana Jiménez‐Múrcia, José M. Menchón,

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Background The same executive dysfunctions and alterations in neuroimaging tests (both functional and structural) have been found in obsessive-compulsive patients and their first-degree relatives. These neurobiological findings are considered to be intermediate markers of the disease. The aim of our study was to assess verbal and non-verbal memory in unaffected first-degree relatives, in order to determine whether these neuropsychological functions constitute a new cognitive marker for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Method Recall and use of organizational strategies in verbal and non-verbal memory tasks were measured in 25 obsessive-compulsive patients, 25 unaffected first-degree relatives and 25 healthy volunteers. Results First-degree relatives and healthy volunteers did not show differences on most measures of verbal memory. However, during the recall and processing of non-verbal information, deficits were found in first-degree relatives and patients compared with healthy volunteers. Conclusions The presence of the same deficits in the execution of non-verbal memory tasks in OCD patients and unaffected first-degree relatives suggests the influence of certain genetic and/or familial factors on this cognitive function in OCD and supports the hypothesis that deficits in non-verbal memory tasks could be considered as cognitive markers of the disorder.