4.4.1. Characteristics of OCD

OCD:

Behavioural

Avoidance behaviour
Compulsions (repetitive and intrusive thoughts focused around the stimulus which reduce anxiety through being a method of acting upon obsessive thoughts)

Emotional

Anxiety
Distress
Embarrassment
Shame

Cognitive

Acknowledgement that their anxiety is excessive and irrational
The development of cognitive strategies to deal with obsessions

Neural explanation

People with OCD have impaired communication between the basal ganglia and the orbitofrontal cortex (OBF)

There are 2 neural explanations:

1. Brain structures

Obsessions: People with ocd have a hyperactive OBF, which continues to detect worrying stimuli in the environment, even when no real threat is present, causing obsessions.
Compulsions: In people with OCD, the basal ganglia sends much weaker signals to the OBF, causing the OBF to determine that an action needs to be completed, causing compulsions.

2. Serotonin

People with OCD have less serotonin release. As serotonin is an inhibitory neurotransmitter, less serotonin release = hyperactive OBF, which is associated with OCD symptoms, such as obsessions (as written above)

Evaluation for the neural explanation:

infoNote

P: There is supporting evidence

infoNote

E: For instance, antidepressants that work purely on increasing serotonin levels have been effective at reducing OCD symptoms

infoNote

E: This supports the idea that serotonin plays a role in the development of OCD, therefore strengthening the neural explanation

infoNote

P: However, there are issues of causation

infoNote

E: For example, research has found that other areas of the brain can also be implicated in OCD. This means that no singular brain system has been consistently found to play a role.

infoNote

E: Therefore it could be that changes in the brain are a result of OCD, rather than changes in the brain causing OCD in the first place. As a result, it musn't be concluded that there is a cause and effect relationship, weakening the explanation

. Characteristics of OCD Simplified Revision Notes for A-Level Edexcel Psychology

4.4.1. Characteristics of OCD

OCD:

Behavioural

Emotional

Cognitive

Neural explanation

There are 2 neural explanations:

1. Brain structures

2. Serotonin

Evaluation for the neural explanation:

500K+ Students Use These Powerful Tools to Master . Characteristics of OCD For their A-Level Exams.

Other Revision Notes related to . Characteristics of OCD you should explore