A Computational Approach for the Assessment of Executive Functions in Patients with Obsessive–Compulsive Disorder

<p>Previous studies on obsessive&ndash;compulsive disorder (OCD) showed impairments in executive domains, particularly in cognitive inhibition. In this perspective, the use of virtual reality showed&nbsp;huge potential in the&nbsp; assessment of executive functions; however, unfortunately, to date, no study on the assessment of these patients took advantage of the use of virtual environments. One of the main problems faced within assessment protocols is the use of a limited number of variables and&nbsp;tools when tailoring a personalized program. The main aim of this study was to provide a heuristic decision tree for the future development of tailored assessment protocols. To this purpose, we&nbsp;conducted a study that involved 58 participants (29 OCD patients and 29 controls) to collect both&nbsp;classic neuropsychological data and precise data based on a validated protocol in virtual reality for&nbsp;the assessment of executive functions, namely, the VMET (virtual multiple errands test). In order to&nbsp;provide clear indications for working on executive functions with these patients, we carried out a&nbsp;cross-validation based on three learning algorithms and computationally defined two decision trees.<br> We found that, by using three neuropsychological tests and two VMET scores, it was possible to&nbsp;discriminate OCD patients from controls, opening a novel scenario for future assessment protocols&nbsp;based on virtual reality and computational techniques.</p>