Abstract
This study investigates the goal/habit imbalance theory of compulsion in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which postulates enhanced habit formation, increased automaticity, and impaired goal/habit arbitration. It directly tests these hypotheses using newly developed behavioral tasks. First, OCD patients and healthy participants were trained daily for a month using a smartphone app to perform chunked action sequences. Despite similar procedural learning and attainment of habitual performance (measured by an objective automaticity criterion) by both groups, OCD patients self-reported higher subjective habitual tendencies via a recently developed questionnaire. Subsequently, in a re-evaluation task assessing choices between established automatic and novel goal-directed actions, both groups were sensitive to re-evaluation based on monetary feedback. However, OCD patients, especially those with higher compulsive symptoms and habitual tendencies, showed a clear preference for trained/habitual sequences when choices were based on physical effort, possibly due to their higher attributed intrinsic value. These patients also used the habit-training app more extensively and reported symptom relief post-study. The tendency to attribute higher intrinsic value to familiar actions may be a potential mechanism leading to compulsions and an important addition to the goal/habit imbalance hypothesis in OCD. We also highlight the potential of smartphone app training as a habit reversal therapeutic tool.
Original language | English |
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Article number | RP87346 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-39 |
Number of pages | 39 |
Journal | eLife |
Volume | 12 |
Early online date | 9 May 2024 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 9 May 2024 |
Keywords
- habits
- action sequences
- Human
- goal-directed behavior
- automaticity
- obsessive-compulsive disorder
- motor sequence learning
- neuroscience
- human
- Humans
- Middle Aged
- Male
- Learning
- Young Adult
- Mobile Applications
- Adult
- Female
- Surveys and Questionnaires
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder/psychology
- Habits