Executive attention and working memory in narcoleptic outpatients
Mirleny Moraes1, Sueli Rossini, Rubens Reimão
1Sleep Medicine Advanced Research Group, Division of Clinical Neurology, Hospital das Clínicas, University of São Paulo Medical School, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Objective:
This pioneering study aimed to evaluate executive attention and working memory in Brazilian narcoleptic outpatients.
Methods:
Narcoleptic group: 19 treated narcoleptic outpatients (13 F; 6 M) (mean age=37.58; SD = 8.93); control group: 19 subjects (15 F; 4 M) (mean age=34.42; SD=12.31).
Instruments:
Epworth Sleepiness Scale - Brazilian Portuguese Version (ESS-BR), Victoria Stroop Test (VST), Trail Making Test (TMT) and Letter-Number Sequencing (LNS) of WAIS-III.
Results:
Significant difference at Excessive Daytime Sleepiness (EDS) (p<0.001) and at working memory (p=0.009) with worse results for narcoleptic patients. Patients were slower at VST-1 (p=0.002), VST-2 (p=0.045) and at TMT-A (p=0.016), TMT-B (p=0.006) and B-A (p=0.024).
Conclusion:
Narcoleptic patients showed higher degrees of EDS, an impaired executive attention at a temporal level and lower performance in working memory when compared to normal controls.
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