Evaluation of the frontal lobe functions in children with obsessive-compulsive disorder

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International Journal of Development Research

Evaluation of the frontal lobe functions in children with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Abstract: 

The present study investigated whether obsessive–compulsive children show a distinguishable profile in tasks considered sensitive to frontallobe functioning, i.e. executive functions (EF). The evaluated sample comprises 20 children, both genders, mean age 10,33±1, 83 years, diagnosed as OCD using DMS-IV. Psychological evaluation was performed with Child Behavior Check List, Kohs cubes, Beck Depression Inventory, The Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children, Stroop Color Word Test and Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. Neuropsychological evaluation was performed with QEEG, using Visual Continuous Performance Test (VCPT) from which the Event Related Potentials (ERP) components were extracted. Results showed a clear presence of obsessions and/or compulsions, absence of depression, presence of perseverative errors and mild difficulties in mental flexibility. The ERP results cannot be understood as a disturbance of the EF in a direct sense, rather as a disturbed normal functioning caused by the high anxiety level. There is no significant clinical manifestation of cognitive dysfunction among children with OCD in the early stage of the disorder, but it could be expected the same one to be appearing in the later stages of the disorder.

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