Memory in obssesive-compulsive disorder: current status and its clinical implications

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Becouse indecisiveness and chronic doubt are hallmarks of OCD (e.g., did I turn the oven off?; did I check the door?) its not surprising that memory problems have been postulated to underlie this anxiety disorder. This doubt may reflect 1) general memory deficit, 2) deficit in memory of OCD-related material, or 3) a lack of confidence with respect to the memory. This review will consider the related studies in a historical manner to handle these three explanations. Firstly, empirical studies which examined frontal lobe dysfunction in OCD will be mentioned briefly. The hypothesis that underlines these studies is, `repetitive behaviours might simply result from impaired recall for past events. Secondly, the current review will focus on those studies that have examined specific concerns of the participants, in other words OCD threat-related stimuli. The results of the studies proposed that, instead of a memory deficit in association with OCD, there is a memory bias. Finally, studies which have explored the concept of metamemory in OCD will be mentioned. Metamemory, refers to one’s knowledge of one’s memory. According to the results of these studies, patients’ reports of poor memory might result from poor confidence in their memory. The clinical relevance of the metamemory studies also will be summarized in order to provide some practical information to clinicians who work in applied settings.