Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41001530›Full record

ArticleResearch square2025

The metacognitive paradox of OCD: confidence is globally reduced but shows increased sensitivity to local evidence.

Alisa M Loosen, Brian A Zaboski, Avalon Moore, Calvin Bohner, Helen Pushkarskaya, Christopher Pittenger, Tobias U Hauser

Abstract readPreprint
In one paragraph

Article in Research square, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing 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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

7 authors.

Alisa M LoosenMax Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research.
Brian A ZaboskiDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA.
Avalon MooreDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA.
Calvin BohnerDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA.
Helen PushkarskayaDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA.
Christopher PittengerDepartment of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA.
Tobias U HauserMax Planck UCL Centre for Computational Psychiatry and Ageing Research.ORCID 0000-0002-7997-8137

Funding

Brain Network Changes Accompanying and Predicting Responses to Pharmacotherapy in OCDR01MH116038 · NIMH · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI ANTICEVIC, ALAN, PITTENGER, CHRISTOPHER JOHN · 2019 to 2023
$3.7M
Patient Oriented Research and Mentorship and Training in Functional Neuroimaging of Obsessive-Compulsive DisorderK24MH121571 · NIMH · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI PITTENGER, CHRISTOPHER JOHN · 2020 to 2024
$900k
Evidence accumulation in obsessive-compulsive disorder during perceptual and value-based decisionsR21MH115394 · NIMH · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI PITTENGER, CHRISTOPHER JOHN, PUSHKARSKAYA, HELEN · 2018 to 2019
$461k
Examining individual differences in large scale brain networks in individuals with OCD and their relations to heterogeneity of obsessive compulsive symptoms.R03MH128847 · NIMH · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI PITTENGER, CHRISTOPHER JOHN, PUSHKARSKAYA, HELEN · 2022 to 2023
$147k
NIMH NIH HHS K24 MH121571NIMH NIH HHS R01 MH116038NIMH NIH HHS R03 MH128847NIMH NIH HHS R21 MH115394Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Confidence is a critical metacognitive signal that guides performance. Biases in confidence, such as excessive doubt, are hallmark features of mental health disorders, especially obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Yet, the underlying neurocognitive mechanisms and how they link to learning and decision-making remain elusive. We asked patients with OCD and matched healthy controls to perform a novel rule-shifting task incorporating trial-by-trial confidence ratings. Using a Bayes-optimal model, we identified two distinct confidence biases: while patients with OCD indicated lower overall confidence, their trial-by-trial confidence ratings more accurately tracked task-relevant information, rendering their confidence reports more Bayes-optimal than those of controls. These findings challenge the idea of a simple, unified metacognitive impairment in OCD. Instead, they suggest that OCD is linked to an enhanced responsiveness to environmental evidence and feedback during decision-making.

Indexed as

Cognitive FlexibilityConfidenceDecision MakingLearningMetacognitionObsessive-Compulsive DisorderRule-Shifting

Identifiers

PMID41001530
PMCPMC12458574

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.