Novel Smartphone Interventions Improve Cognitive Flexibility and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Symptoms in Individuals with Contamination Fears.
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Authors
Jalal, Baland
Piercy, Thomas
Ramachandran, Vilayanur S
Sahakian, Barbara J
Publication Date
2018-10-23Journal Title
Sci Rep
ISSN
2045-2322
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Volume
8
Issue
1
Pages
14923
Language
eng
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Physical Medium
Electronic
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Jalal, B., Brühl, A., O'Callaghan, C., Piercy, T., Cardinal, R. N., Ramachandran, V. S., & Sahakian, B. J. (2018). Novel Smartphone Interventions Improve Cognitive Flexibility and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Symptoms in Individuals with Contamination Fears.. Sci Rep, 8 (1), 14923. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-33142-2
Abstract
One type of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by contamination fears and compulsive cleansing. Few effective treatments are available for this debilitating condition. Compulsive symptoms, such as excessive washing, are believed to be mediated by cognitive inflexibility-arguably the most striking cognitive impairment in OCD. In this study, we investigated the effects of two novel smartphone interventions on cognitive flexibility and OCD symptoms in healthy individuals with OCD-like contamination fears. In the first intervention, participants watched a brief video recording of themselves engaging in handwashing on a smartphone, four times a day, for a total of one week (N = 31). The second intervention was similar except that participants watched themselves repeatedly touching a disgust-inducing object (N = 31). In a third (control) "intervention", participants watched themselves performing sequential hand movements (N = 31). As hypothesized, the two smartphone interventions, unlike the control, improved cognitive flexibility; as assessed on the Intradimensional-Extradimensional Set Shifting task (a sensitive marker of cognitive flexibility). The two interventions, unlike the control, also improved OCD symptoms (measured with the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory-Revised and Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale). Finally, we found high levels of adherence to the interventions. These findings have significant clinical implications for OCD.
Keywords
Humans, Fear, Cognition, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Neuropsychological Tests, Adolescent, Adult, Middle Aged, Female, Male, Mobile Applications, Smartphone
Sponsorship
Medical Research Council (G1000183)
Medical Research Council (MC_PC_17213)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-33142-2
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/284555
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