Background Although the relationship between obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive compulsive character disorder (OCPD) has long been debated clinical samples of OCD (without OCPD) and OCPD (without OCD) have never been systematically compared. assessments and a validated intertemporal choice task that measures capacity to forego small immediate rewards for larger delayed rewards. Results OCD and OCPD subjects both showed impairment in psychosocial functioning and quality of life as well as compulsive behavior but only subjects with OCD reported obsessions. Individuals with OCPD with or without comorbid OCD discounted the value of delayed monetary rewards significantly ETP-46464 less than OCD and HC. This excessive capacity to delay reward discriminates OCPD from OCD and is associated with perfectionism and rigidity. Conclusions OCD and OCPD are both impairing disorders marked by compulsive behaviors but they can be differentiated by the presence of obsessions in OCD and by excessive capacity to delay reward in OCPD. That individuals with OCPD show less temporal discounting (suggestive of excessive self-control) whereas prior studies have shown that individuals with substance use disorders show greater discounting (suggestive of impulsivity) supports the premise that this component of self-control lies on the continuum where extremes (impulsivity and overcontrol) donate to psychopathology. and so are viewed by individuals as correct and appropriate. Advancements in cognitive neuroscience right now be able to evaluate the partnership between these disorders predicated on domains of neural working. One primary differentiation between OCPD and OCD could be in the site of self-control. Self-control ETP-46464 continues to be thought as “the capability to evaluate and consequently respond flexibly searching for a specific objective or result under changing environmental circumstances” (8). Diminished self-control (i.e. impulsivity) can be thought to possess several possibly dissociable cognitive measurements: 1) an lack of ability to forego an instantaneous smaller reward and only a delayed bigger reward (hold off discounting) 2 an inability to use available information to reflect on the consequences of actions ETP-46464 and 3) a deficit in suppressing prepotent motor responses (9 10 Much has been learned about impulsivity and its role in mental disorders such as substance use disorders pathological gambling attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and borderline personality disorder. Excessive self-control (or overcontrol) has also been linked to negative outcomes including social isolation poor interpersonal functioning perfectionism rigidity and lack of emotional expression (11). However research has not focused on how excessive self-control contributes to the development and maintenance of psychopathology. Based on its phenotype of perfectionism a desire to control one’s environment and cognitive and behavioral inflexibility (12) OCPD appears to be characterized by excessive self-control. The aim of the present study was to compare individuals with OCD (without OCPD) to individuals with OCPD (without OCD) for the first time on symptomatology psychosocial functioning and one dimension Rabbit polyclonal to LIMD1. of self-control: the capacity to delay reward (13). To assess the capacity to delay reward we used a validated intertemporal choice task that measures capacity to forego small immediate rewards for larger delayed rewards. On this task individuals have been shown to differ in the rate at which they discount future rewards (“discount factor”) (14) which is stable over time and trait-like (15). Greater delay discounting (lower lower price factor) continues to be connected with impulsivity in psychiatric health problems such as chemical make use of disorders (16) and borderline character disorder (17). Furthermore functional neuroimaging research of hold off discounting in healthful individuals have proven that limbic locations like the ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex are preferentially turned on by decisions concerning immediately available benefits whereas activations from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and ETP-46464 parietal cortex are connected with choices of larger postponed benefits (18). We thought we would concentrate on this element of impulsivity just because a recent research (19).