Reward functioning from an attentional perspective and obsessive-compulsive symptoms—an eye-tracking study

Basel, Dana; Lazarov, Amit · 2023 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1017/s1092852922001122

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Summary

This study investigates the relationship between obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptoms and reward-based attentional functioning, addressing a gap in prior research that relied primarily on reaction-time tasks. While recent literature suggests altered reward processing in OCD, the specific role of attention—how prior reward learning influences subsequent attention allocation—has been largely overlooked. The authors hypothesized that individuals with high OC symptoms would exhibit greater attentional capture by reward-signaling stimuli compared to those with low symptoms, potentially impairing task performance. To test this, the researchers employed an eye-tracking-based version of the value-modulated attentional capture (VMAC) task. The study included 92 nonclinical undergraduate students divided into two groups: 44 with high OC symptoms (HOC, OCI-R score > 27) and 48 with low OC symptoms (LOC, OCI-R score < 10). Participants performed a visual search task where they had to locate a target diamond among distractors. One distractor signaled the magnitude of potential monetary reward (high or low). Crucially, attentional capture by this distractor impaired performance, reducing the likelihood of earning the reward. The study measured attentional deployment using fixation data and saccade movements, controlling for depression, anxiety, and addiction-related compulsivity using standardized self-report measures (DASS-21 and BATCAP). The results demonstrated that both groups performed worse when high-reward signaling distractors were present compared to low-reward distractors. However, this performance decrement was significantly greater in the HOC group. Analysis of fixation data revealed that HOC participants made significantly more error responses by fixating on the high-reward distractor compared to the low-reward distractor, a difference that was more pronounced than in the LOC group. This pattern held true for overall error responses and was driven specifically by the effects of reward-signaling distractors. Exploratory analysis of saccade data confirmed these findings, showing that HOC participants made more saccades toward high-value distractors. These results remained significant after controlling for depressive symptoms and addiction-related compulsivity, indicating that the effect is specific to OC symptomatology rather than general mood or addictive behaviors. The findings suggest that attentional reward-related functioning is associated with OC symptoms, characterized by an exaggerated attentional capture by reward-predictive cues. This captures a mechanism where the drive to attend to potential rewards interferes with goal-directed behavior, even at the cost of obtaining the reward. The study highlights the importance of incorporating attentional aspects of reward processing into future research and clinical interventions for OCD, moving beyond traditional views of the disorder as solely risk-averse or self-controlled.

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• gaze based attention detection