Filippo La Paglia

Break in volition: a virtual reality study in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Research in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) produced inconsistent results in demonstrating an association between patients’ symptom severity and their cognitive impairments. The process involved in volition aspects of behavioral syndromes can be extensively analyzed using specific tests developed in virtual environments, more suitable to manipulate rules and possible breaks of the normal task execution with different, confusing or stopping instructions. The study involved thirty participants (15 OCD patients and 15 controls) during task execution and the relative interferences. At this purpose, the virtual version of Multiple Errands Test was used. Virtual reality setting, with a higher ecological validity respect to a classic neuropsychological battery, allowed us to take into account deficits of volition and the relative dysexecutive functions associated with OCD patients. The proposed paradigm also allows the development of innovative prototypes of coevolving technologies based on new theories and models and deeper understanding of human behavior.

Assessment of executive functions in patients with obsessive compulsive disorder by NeuroVR.

Executive functions are often impaired in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). We used a Virtual Reality version of the Multiple Errand Test (VMET) - developed dusing the free NeuroVR software (http://www.neurovr.org) - to evaluate the executive functions in daily life in 10 OCD patients and 10 controls. It is performed in a shopping setting where there are items to be bought and information to be obtained. The execution time for the whole task was higher in patients with OCD compared to controls, suggesting that patients with OCD need more time in planning than controls. The same difference was found in the partial errors during the task. Furthermore, the mean rank for and for interpretation failures is higher for controls, while the values of divided attention and the of self correction seems to be lower in controls. We think that obsessive patients tend to work with greater diligence and observance of rules than controls. In conclusion, these results provide initial support for the feasibility of VMET as assessment tool of executive functions. Specifically, the significant correlation found between the VMET and the neuropsychological battery support the ecological validity of VMET as an instrument for the evaluation of executive functions in patients with OCD.

Psychometric assessment using classic neuropsychological and virtual reality based test: A study in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and schizophrenic patients

Assessment of neurocognitive functioning is a critical task in clinical settings. In many disorders, cognitive impairment precedes the onset of behavioral symptoms, and cognitive decline is a major factor contributing to functional disability. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the executive functions by comparing the evaluations obtained using a neuropsychological battery with the one obtained using the virtual reality version of the Multiple Errands Test (V-MET). The study population included three groups: 10 patients affected by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD); 10 Schizophrenic patients; 10 healthy Controls. The results identified executive problems in clinical samples. By contrast, controls have higher level of efficiency and better performance. The correlation across the two assessment support the validity of V-Met, as a neurocognitive assessment.

Decision Making and Cognitive Behavioral Flexibility in a OCD Sample: a Study in a Virtual Environment.

Neuropsychological disorders are common in Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) patients. Executive functions, verbal fluency and verbal memory, shifting attention from one aspect of stimuli to others, mental flexibility, engaging in executive planning and decision making, are the most involved cognitive domains. We focus on two aspects of neuropsychological function: decision making and cognitive behavioral flexibility, assessed through a virtual version of the Multiple Errand Test (V-MET), developed using the NeuroVR software. Thirty OCD patients were compared with thirty matched control subjects. The results showed the presence of difficulties in OCD patients with tasks where the goal is not clear, the information is incomplete or the parameters are ill-defined.

Erratum to: Break in volition: a virtual reality study in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder

Due to an inadvertent error in typesetting, the names of two authors (Filippo La Paglia and Caterina La Cascia) were mispresented in the address line of this article. This mistake carried over into PubMed and Scopus, where they are erroneously listed as F.