Neurocognitive indices of response inhibition within Autogenous and Reactive Obsessions: A brief review

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a heterogenous and debilitating condition in which roughly half of patients show limited long-term improvement. Improving our understanding on its heterogeneity may help optimize and enhance overall treatment outcomes of OCD. Among various subtyping approaches that currently exist for OCD the Autogenous-Reactive Obsession (AO-RO) subtyping taxonomy has continued to demonstrate high validity with empirical support in clinical and non-clinical samples. Furthermore, growing evidence indicates distinct neurocognitive profiles for AO and RO across studies and neuroimaging modalities within response inhibition indices. Specifically, results demonstrate AO is primarily characterized by deficits in cognitive inhibition, whereas some evidence suggests RO may be primarily characterized by deficits in behavioral inhibition. This article reviews the neurocognitive profiles of AO and RO and discusses the potential clinical utility of understanding their neurocognitive indices in improving treatment outcome for OCD.