Evidence for trial-by-trial dynamic adjustment of task control in unmedicated adults with OCD.

Eyal Kalanthroff, Rachel Marsh, Ran R Hassin, Helen Blair Simpson

Abstract read

In one paragraph

Article in Behaviour research and therapy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it

0cells of the map it votes in

3citing papers in PubMed

–field-weighted citation impact

1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

Impaired midfrontal‑motor theta phase synchronization characterizes maladaptive motivational behavior in people with obsessive‑compulsive disorder.PLoS biology · 2026
Article
Cognitive Rigidity, Habitual Tendencies, and Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms: Individual Differences and Compensatory Interactions.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022
Article
Stopping a Response When You Really Care about the Action: Considerations from a Clinical Perspective.Brain sciences · 2021
Review

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Eyal KalanthroffDepartment of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; The New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: eyal.kalanthroff@mail.huji.ac.il.

Rachel MarshDepartment of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; The New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.

Ran R HassinDepartment of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.

Helen Blair SimpsonDepartment of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA; The New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, USA.

Funding

Control and Reward Circuits as Targets for Repetitive Thoughts and BehaviorsR01MH104648 · NIMH · NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE DBA RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR MENTAL HYGIENE, INC · PI MARSH, RACHEL, SIMPSON, HELEN BLAIR · 2014 to 2017

$2.8M

Enhancing Patient-Oriented Research and Training in OCDK24MH091555 · NIMH · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI SIMPSON, HELEN BLAIR · 2010 to 2014

$742k

NIMH NIH HHS K24 MH091555NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH104648

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

According to the conflict monitoring theory, executive control requires two separable processes: conflict-monitoring and conflict-resolution. Deficits in executive control have been observed in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, it is not yet clear whether these deficits can be attributed to deficits in conflict-monitoring, in conflict-resolution, or in both. We examined this question by administrating the Simon task to 67 unmedicated adults with OCD and 67 matched controls. The interference effect (incongruent minus congruent) was used to measure conflict-resolution. Trial-by-trial dynamic adaptation (i.e., the Gratton effect), which is indicated by smaller interference effect after conflict-laden trials compared to after non-conflict-laden trials, was used to measure conflict-monitoring. A similar interference effect was found in both the OCD and HC groups with no significant between group differences. Following incongruent trials, the interference effect became smaller for the control group as expected, but was completely eliminated for the OCD group. These data add to the accumulating evidence indicating that conflict-resolution is not globally deficient in unmedicated OCD patients and provide direct evidence that conflict-monitoring is heightened in OCD patients. Our results challenge the assumption of cognitive inflexibility in OCD and highlight the importance of studying unmedicated subjects when investigating executive control.

Indexed as

AdultAttentionExecutive FunctionFemaleHumansMaleNeuropsychological TestsObsessive-Compulsive DisorderPsychomotor PerformanceReaction TimeYoung AdultDynamic adaptationExecutive controlFlexibilityGratton effectObsessive compulsive disorder

Identifiers

PMID32044473

DOI10.1016/j.brat.2020.103572

PMCPMC7097911

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.