THE FUSE

Hoarding disorder has always carried a certain mystery. Why do some people find it nearly impossible to part with objects that others would quickly discard? Over the past decade, neuropsychological research has begun to unravel this question, pointing to difficulties in executive function—the mental abilities that allow us to plan, prioritize, make decisions, and shift attention. Yet, even though these functions are disrupted in hoarding disorder, the pattern of impairment differs from dementia both in the nature of the deficits and in how they appear on clinical tests.