Communications in Humanities Research ISSN: 2753-7072
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Research Article

Working Memory Deficits in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Patients

Haina YuanDepartment of Psychology, University of Rochester, Rochester, USA*

* Corresponding author: [email protected]

Abstract

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a long-term mental illness characterized by constant unwanted thoughts and repeated actions that cause severe impact on daily life. This review explores OCD’s working memory deficits and their connection to abnormal brain activation, particularly in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Neuroimaging and behavioral studies suggest that these deficits cause cognitive overload in OCD patients, impairing decision-making and problem-solving processes. Despite growing evidence of executive function impairments in OCD, research results remain inconsistent due to task design limitations and small, homogeneous samples. This review identifies limitations of current research, such as task design and sample selection, and suggests future improvements, including standardized, ecologically valid tasks and larger, more diverse samples. Some possible treatments will be mentioned, including cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which are feasible ways to address working memory deficits and improve living quality for OCD individuals.

Keywords: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a long-term mental illness characterized by constant unwanted thoughts and repeated actions that cause severe impact on daily life. This review explores OCD’s working memory deficits and their connection to abnormal brain activation; particularly in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC); orbitofrontal cortex (OFC); and prefrontal cortex (PFC). Neuroimaging and behavioral studies suggest that these deficits cause cognitive overload in OCD patients; impairing decision-making and problem-solving processes. Despite growing evidence of executive function impairments in OCD; research results remain inconsistent due to task design limitations and small; homogeneous samples. This review identifies limitations of current research; such as task design and sample selection; and suggests future improvements; including standardized; ecologically valid tasks and larger; more diverse samples. Some possible treatments will be mentioned; including cognitive remediation therapy (CRT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT); which are feasible ways to address working memory deficits and improve living quality for OCD individuals.
Published: May 15, 2025
DOI: 10.54254/2753-7064/2024.22754
Volume: CHR Vol.68
pp. 1-7
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