Endophenotypes in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can be transmitted genetically (JW Psychiatry Jun 13 2011), and its characteristic neurocognitive impairments might reflect traits that can be seen in healthy family members. To ascertain whether such endophenotypes exist and, if so, which neuropsychological functions might be involved, researchers examined 30 drug-naive outpatients diagnosed with OCD according to the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (mostly hand washing and checking symptoms) but without hoarding symptoms or other psychiatric illness; 30 of their first-degree asymptomatic relatives; and 30 healthy controls. The three groups were matched on age, verbal IQ, and sex ratio and had similar sociodemographics.

All participants took a large …