Subjective complaints, verbal fluency, and working memory in mild multiple sclerosis.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Psychology
• Clinical Neurology

Background:

• Patients with mild multiple sclerosis (MS) often report generalized cognitive inefficiency.
• Reduced verbal fluency, such as losing the thread of conversation, is a common complaint in mild MS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare subjective complaints, verbal fluency, and working memory in mild MS patients and controls.
• To investigate the role of working memory in the subjective cognitive difficulties experienced by MS patients.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of subjective complaints, verbal fluency, and working memory between mild MS patients and a control group.
• Correlational analyses to examine relationships between subjective difficulties, verbal fluency, and working memory.
• Exploration of the influence of affective states (depression, anxiety) on these relationships.

Main Results:

• Subjective cognitive difficulties and verbal fluency were both correlated with working memory in MS patients.
• In the MS group, subjective difficulties were not associated with affective state but were linked to working memory.
• Affective state (depression) was associated with subjective difficulties only in the control group.

Conclusions:

• Working memory impairment is a key factor underlying subjective cognitive complaints in mild MS.
• Verbal dysfluency is an integral component of the working memory deficits observed in mild MS patients.
• These findings suggest that interventions targeting working memory may alleviate cognitive inefficiency in mild MS.