A neuropsychological study of dissociation in cortical and subcortical functioning in obsessive-compulsive disorder by Tower of Hanoi task.

Several biological models of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) have focused on the roles frontal cortex and basal ganglia dysfunctions play in the expression of the disorder. From a neuropsychological point of view, previous reports have underlined the possible involvement of the prefrontal cortex in declarative functions and the basal ganglia in procedural ones. A possible dissociation of cortical and subcortical functioning has been studied using the Hanoi Tower Task to explore different neuropsychological aspects of problem-solving procedures. Our results indicate that differential cortical and subcortical dysfunctions could contribute to OCD pathophysiology and that procedural and declarative forms might be independent of each other.