Proactive control for conflict resolution is intact in subclinical obsessive-compulsive individuals

Fornaro, Silvia; Visalli, Antonino; Viviani, Giada; Ambrosini, Ettore; Vallesi, Antonino · 2024 · Crossref

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1490147

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Summary

This study investigates whether subclinical obsessive-compulsive (OC) traits are associated with impairments in proactive cognitive control, specifically regarding conflict resolution. OC traits, characterized by stereotyped behaviors to avoid negative outcomes, are prevalent in both clinical and healthy populations and are often linked to broader cognitive control deficits. While previous research suggests that OC disorders involve impairments in conflict resolution and cognitive flexibility, the specific role of proactive control—defined as the anticipatory maintenance of task-relevant representations to bias perception and action—remains unclear. The authors hypothesized that individuals with higher OC traits would exhibit abnormalities in proactively implementing control to resolve conflict, potentially contributing to the development of OC-related disorders. To test this hypothesis, the researchers recruited 104 healthy participants from the University of Padua. Participants completed the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory (OCI) to quantify the severity of their OC traits and the Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale (DASS-21) to control for comorbid symptoms. The primary experimental measure was the perifoveal spatial Stroop task, administered online. This task required participants to respond to the direction of an arrow while ignoring its spatial position, creating a conflict between task-relevant and task-irrelevant information. Proactive control demands were manipulated by varying the list-wide proportion of congruent trials (LWPC) across blocks (30%, 50%, and 70%). Lower LWPC conditions required higher proactive control to anticipate conflict. The study utilized Linear Mixed-effect models to analyze response times and employed a Two One-Sided Test (TOST) equivalence test to determine if the association between OC traits and task performance was statistically equivalent to zero. The results indicated that proactive control performance was not associated with the severity of OC traits. Analysis of response times revealed no significant correlation between OCI scores and the ability to modulate conflict resolution based on proactive control demands. Furthermore, the equivalence test confirmed that the association between OC severity and task performance was statistically equivalent to zero. These findings held even after controlling for depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. Consequently, the data did not support the hypothesis that subclinical OC traits are linked to deficits in proactive conflict resolution. The study concludes that the interplay between OC traits and proactive control abnormalities likely does not contribute to the onset of OC-related disorders in subclinical populations. This suggests that proactive control mechanisms remain intact in individuals with elevated OC traits. The authors imply that researchers should scrutinize other cognitive endophenotypes to better understand the etiopathogenesis of OC disorders. Identifying the correct cognitive markers is essential for developing effective prevention and intervention strategies, as the current findings rule out proactive control deficits as a primary risk factor in this context.

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• executive function