How is compulsivity related to uncertainty?

Compulsive traits are tendencies to repeat patterned behaviours. They are often seen in psychiatric conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), addiction and eating disorders. But what drives compulsive traits? In this episode, Dr Toby Wise, Senior Research Fellow in Neuroscience at King's College London, talks about a new study which used an online video game played by 2,000 people to examine the relationship between compulsive traits and different types of decision making. Dr Wise talks to School Communications Manager Dr Francesca Greenstreet about how he used the video game, combined with some complex maths, to tease apart habitual strategies from more goal-oriented ones and what this means for our understanding of compulsivity. Read more about the study: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/compulsive-traits-linked-to-uncertainty-over-future-plans Learn more about the School of Neuroscience at King's College London: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/neuroscience