Action-Outcome Knowledge Dissociates From Behavior in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Following Contingency Degradation.
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Authors
Vaghi, Matilde M
Cardinal, Rudolf N
Apergis-Schoute, Annemieke M
Fineberg, Naomi A
Sule, Akeem
Robbins, Trevor W
Publication Date
2019-02Journal Title
Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging
ISSN
2451-9022
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Volume
4
Issue
2
Pages
200-209
Language
eng
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Physical Medium
Print-Electronic
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Vaghi, M. M., Cardinal, R. N., Apergis-Schoute, A. M., Fineberg, N. A., Sule, A., & Robbins, T. W. (2019). Action-Outcome Knowledge Dissociates From Behavior in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Following Contingency Degradation.. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging, 4 (2), 200-209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2018.09.014
Abstract
BACKGROUND: In obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), actions persist despite being inappropriate to the situation and without relationship to the overall goal. Dysfunctional beliefs have traditionally been postulated to underlie this condition. More recently, OCD has been characterized in terms of an imbalance between the goal-directed and the habit systems. To test these competing hypotheses, we used a novel experimental task designed to test subjective action-outcome knowledge of the effectiveness of actions (i.e., instrumental contingency), together with the balance between goal-directed and habitual responding. METHODS: Twenty-seven patients with OCD and 27 healthy control subjects were tested on a novel task involving the degradation of an action-outcome contingency. Sensitivity to instrumental contingency and the extent to which explicitly reported action-outcome knowledge guided behavior were probed by measuring response rate and subjectively reported judgments. RESULTS: Patients with OCD responded more than healthy control subjects in situations in which an action was less causally related to obtaining an outcome. However, patients showed intact explicit action-outcome knowledge, as assessed by self-report. In patients, the relationship between causality judgment and responding was altered; therefore, their actions were dissociated from explicit action-outcome knowledge. CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate reduced sensitivity to instrumental contingency in OCD, reinforcing the notion of a deficient goal-directed system in this disorder. By showing a dissociation between subjectively reported action-outcome knowledge and behavior, the data provide experimental evidence for the ego-dystonic nature of OCD.
Keywords
Humans, Habits, Goals, Learning, Judgment, Psychomotor Performance, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Adult, Middle Aged, Female, Male
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (104631/Z/14/Z, G00001354); Medical Research Council (G00001354); Pinsent Darwin Scholarship in Mental Pathology; Angharad Dodds John Bursary in Mental Health and Neuropsychiatry
Funder references
Medical Research Council (G1000183)
Wellcome Trust (093875/Z/10/Z)
Wellcome Trust (104631/Z/14/Z)
Medical Research Council (G0001354)
Medical Research Council (MR/M009041/1)
Medical Research Council (MR/M024873/1)
Identifiers
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2018.09.014
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/287361
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