Abstract. Concealing memories and emotions associated with a traumatic event seems to have negative effects on health. Re-enacting those events through writing is an opportunity to disclose such memories and emotions, and especially for emotion regulation. To study this, 57 university students were randomly assigned to one of two groups. They either completed an expressive writing or a neutral writing task. Real-time writing and psychophysiological data were recorded throughout the experiment to examine writing dynamics associated with emotion regulation and its psychophysiological correlates (electrodermal activity and electrocardiography measures). The results showed that the expressive group (EG) paused for longer than the control group (CG) denoting a positive and medium effect size [Formula: see text]. Furthermore, during and after writing, the EG showed a higher low frequency/high frequency ratio than the CG, evidencing a positive and large effect size [Formula: see text]. These real-time findings are interpreted as signs of emotion regulation happening during writing.

Background: Cognitive impairment affects 40-65% of MS patients, encompassing all disease stages and types of clinical courses. This estimation is based on different instruments used and population normative data.Objective: This study aims to assess the cognitive function in a hospital-based cohort of Portuguese MS patients, to allow estimating the prevalence of cognitive impairment in different phenotypes. Methods: Three hundred and thirteen patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) underwent neuropsychological assessment with the brief repeatable battery of neuropsychological tests (BRBN-T) and the brief international cognitive assessment for multiple sclerosis (BICAMS). Results: Differences were observed in the cognitive impairment profile of different disease phenotypes and of the different disease severity stages. RRMS patients performed better in the cognitive test of the BRBN-T and BICAMS than those with progressive disease phenotypes. Relationships between cognitive impairment and disability and professional status were relevant. Although similarities could be observed in the cognitive profile of the MS phenotypes, with predominant involvement of verbal memory, verbal fluency, and information processing speed, the latter was found to be more frequent as the disease progressed. Conclusion: This study contributes to improve knowledge about the cognitive profile of the different MS phenotypes and understand the cognitive characteristics of Portuguese patients.