Applied Technology for Neuro-Psychology Lab, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Via Pellizza da Volpedo 41, 20149, Milan, Italy.
Exp Brain Res. 2013 Sep;229(3):443-9. doi: 10.1007/s00221-013-3471-y. Epub 2013 Mar 28.
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.
强迫症（OCD）的研究结果不一致，无法证明患者症状严重程度与认知障碍之间存在关联。使用虚拟环境中开发的特定测试，可以广泛分析行为综合征意志方面的过程，这些测试更适合操纵规则和可能的正常任务执行中断，提供不同的、令人困惑的或停止指令。研究涉及三十名参与者（15 名强迫症患者和 15 名对照组）在任务执行过程中的相对干扰。为此，使用了多项任务测试的虚拟版本。虚拟现实设置相对于经典神经心理学测试具有更高的生态有效性，使我们能够考虑到强迫症患者的意志缺陷和相关的执行功能障碍。所提出的范例还允许基于新理论和模型开发协同进化技术的创新原型，并更深入地了解人类行为。
