Subjective Complaints, Verbal Fluency, and Working Memory in Mild Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Patients with mild multiple sclerosis (MS) regularly report subjective complaints characterized by generalized cognitive inefficiency. A feature of these complaints is reduced verbal fluency, for example, losing the thread of conversation. Mild MS patients and controls were compared on subjective complaints, verbal fluency, and working memory, and the possible role of working memory was investigated. As predicted, subjective difficulties and verbalfluency each correlated with working memory. Subjective difficulties and verbal fluency were also related. Within the control group, the subjective difficulties were associated only with depression. On the other hand, in the MS group, subjective difficulties were unrelated to affective state but were correlated with working memory. For the patients, partialing out depression and anxiety did not influence any of the correlations involving subjective difficulties, verbal fluency, or working memory. These findings support the proposal that working memory impairment underlies subjective complaints of mild MS patients and that verbal dysfluency is part and parcel of this phenomenon.

Perceived Cognitive Difficulties and Cognitive Test Performance as Predictors of Employment Outcomes in People with Multiple Sclerosis

“…While most prior studies have found little or no relationship between these factors (Beatty & Monson, 1991;Benedict, Munschauer, et al, 2003;Lovera et al, 2006;Maor, Olmer, & Mozes, 2001;Taylor, 1990), when the measures of self-reported cognition correspond Correspondence and reprint requests to: Cynthia Honan, School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, NSW, 2052. E-mail: c.honan@ unsw.edu.au closely to the specific cognitive domains being tested, significant relationships have been detected (Chiaravalloti & De Luca, 2003;Goverover, Genova, Hali, Chiaravolloti, & DeLuca, 2014;Matotek, Saling, Gates, & Sedal, 2001;Randolph, Arnett, & Freske, 2004;. In this study, perceived general cognitive problems and prospective memory problems were evaluated separately as measures of perceived cognitive difficulties.…”

Perceived cognitive dysfunction and observed neuropsychological performance: Longitudinal relation in persons with multiple sclerosis

“…There is at least some empirical justification for clinician skepticism. While most MS studies have found that self-reported cognitive complaints relate to objective testing (Beatty & Monson, 1991;Benedict et al, 2004;Chiaravalloti & Deluca, 2003;Hoogervorst et al, 2001;Kujala et al, 1996;Maor et al, 2001;Matotek et al, 2001;Randolph et al, 2001Randolph et al, , 2004Taylor, 1990), others have not (Benedict et al, 2003;Gold et al, 2001Gold et al, , 2003. Even among studies with significant findings, the largest reported correlations are often modest (r , .29;Hoogervorst et al, 2001;Maor et al, 2001;Taylor, 1990).…”

Words fail me: The verbal IQ deficit in inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome

“…The nature, quality, and quantity of deficits found depend on the type of illness studied and the instruments used to investigate cognitive function. For example, whereas multiple sclerosis is sometimes accompanied by a working memory deficit9, 10 and accuracy and speed in everyday activities,11 it is IQ and attentional memory that are more often impaired in sickle cell disease 12, 13. Information processing speed may be reduced in people with diabetes,5 people with chronic fatigue syndrome,8 and in those with systemic lupus erythematosus,14 while hepatitis C sufferers may experience problems with sustained attention and psychomotor speed 15.…”

“…The latter argument finds support in the work of Blomhoff et al,22 who showed that people with IBS make increased use of attentional resources. Similarly, Matotek et al9 argued that verbal fluency problems in people with multiple sclerosis may also be due to capacity limitations in working memory.…”