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Updated: Jul 20, 2026
Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children – Working Memory (CABC-WM)
Published on: June 12, 2017
Working memory deficits in multiple sclerosis: comparison between the n-back task and the Paced Auditory Serial
Brett A Parmenter1, Janet L Shucard, Ralph H B Benedict
1Division of Developmental and Behavioral Neurosciences, Department of Neurology/The Jacobs Neurological Institute, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo-State University of New York, 100 High Street, Buffalo, NY 14203, USA.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients show working memory (WM) deficits. Both the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) and n-back tasks reveal these WM impairments, with processing speed being a key common factor.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Psychology
- Clinical Neurology
Background:
- Working memory (WM) deficits are prevalent in multiple sclerosis (MS).
- The Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) and n-back paradigm are commonly used to assess WM in clinical and experimental settings, respectively.
- The n-back task uniquely offers reaction time (RT) as a measure of processing speed and task difficulty.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the common variance between the PASAT and n-back task in measuring WM.
- To compare the performance of MS patients and controls on both WM tasks.
- To identify underlying cognitive factors, such as processing speed, shared by these WM measures.
Main Methods:
- Performance measures on the PASAT and n-back task were collected from 32 MS patients and 20 healthy controls.
- Statistical analyses, including correlational analyses and principal components analysis, were employed.
- Reaction times (RT) on the n-back task were analyzed in relation to WM load.
Main Results:
- MS patients exhibited poorer performance on both the PASAT and n-back tasks compared to controls.
- MS patients demonstrated slower RTs on the n-back task and greater slowing with increased WM load.
- Correlational analyses revealed a high degree of shared variance between PASAT and n-back performance measures.
- Principal components analysis indicated processing speed as a common underlying factor for both tasks and other neuropsychological measures.
Conclusions:
- The PASAT and n-back task measure a significant amount of common variance in working memory assessment.
- Processing speed is a critical cognitive domain influencing performance on both tasks in MS.
- While both tasks are valuable, they possess distinct advantages and disadvantages for clinical application in MS populations.
