Decision‐making using the Iowa gambling test in unaffected first‐degree relatives of obsessive‐compulsive disorder: Comparison with healthy controls and patients with obsessive‐compulsive disorder

• Published in: Journal of neuropsychology 2024-12
• Main Authors: Murayama, Keitaro, Tomiyama, Hirofumi, Ohono, Aikana, Kato, Kenta, Matsuo, Akira, Kang, Mingi, Nakao, Tomohiro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1748-6645; 1748-6653
• DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12407

Decision‐making has been suggested as an endophenotype candidate for obsessive‐compulsive disorder (OCD). However, few studies have examined whether decision‐making under ambiguity is an endophenotype of OCD. This study aimed to investigate decision‐making under ambiguity, as assessed by the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), in patients with OCD and unaffected first‐degree relatives (UFDR). Forty‐seven non‐medicated, non‐co‐morbid patients with OCD, 30 UFDR, and 47 healthy controls (HC) were compared in terms of decision‐making using the IGT. The correlation between obsessive‐compulsive symptoms and IGT performance was also investigated. Patients with OCD and UFDR performed worse than HC on the IGT. No correlation was found between obsessive‐compulsive symptoms and IGT performance. A deficit in decision‐making under ambiguity may be a trait and an endophenotype candidate for OCD.