[Cognitive disturbances in multiple sclerosis]

Results of the study of cognitive functions in children with multiple sclerosis (MS), including literature data on cognitive disturbances in this disease, are presented. Fourteen patients, aged from 8 to 17 years, with definite MS have been studied. A neuropsychological study revealed impulsivity in the performance of tasks without the sufficient orientation on the test instruction; difficulties in the visual perception in conditions of different complexity and difficulties of the simultaneous synthesis; elements of the left-side ignoring, difficulties in understanding, the usage of logical grammatical construction, activity programming and the rhythm perception. These peculiarities are interpreted in the context of A.R. Luria conceptions on the marked impairment of the functional activity of the right hemisphere, reduction of an operational constituent of mental processes related to the activity of the second functional block in the brain (parietal, occipital and temporal areas); decrease of regulatory aspects of the activity related to the activity of the third structural-functional block, which included the convexital frontal cortex with all the cortical and subcortical connections; reduction of the activating provision of mental processes related to the work of the first structural-functional block (deep, subcortical brain structures and their connections). It is emphasized that cognitive disturbances in children may appear on the earlier stages of MS.