Abstract
The multifocal nature of lesions in multiple sclerosis hints at the occurrence of autobiographical memory (AbM) impairment. However, the dearth of studies on AbM in multiple sclerosis is noticeable, notwithstanding the importance of AbM in everyday life. In the first section of this study, 25 multiple sclerosis patients and 35 controls underwent a detailed episodic AbM assessment. Results obtained by means of ANOVA suggested an AbM retrieval deficit in every patient. That pattern of performance paved the way for the second section of the study, in which we followed up 10 out of the 25 patients. Our objective was to assess the effectiveness of a cognitive facilitation programme designed to alleviate AbM retrieval deficits, based on the key role of mental visual imagery on AbM. Statistical group analyses by means of ANOVA and individual analyses using the χ2 test showed significant differences in AbM test results, in post-facilitation relative to pre-facilitation training, in all 10 patients. Moreover, the patients' comments showed that the positive effects were transferred in their daily life functioning. We would like to suggest that the facilitation programme efficiently enhanced the process of self-centred mental visual imagery, which might have compensated for poor retrieval of personal memories by providing better access to visual details and detailed visual scenes of personal recollections.
Highlights
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune inflammatory pathology characterised by the multifocal nature of neurological lesions and the diversity of its neu-ropathological processes, which results in a wide variety of symptoms.With regard to cognition in MS, Rao, Leo, Bernardin, and Unverzagt (1991) demonstrated cognitive impairments in 30-70% of MS patients
Inclusion criteria were the diagnosis of a relapsing-remitting disease course (RRMS), a mild functional disability corresponding to an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS; Kurtzke, 1983) score ≤ 6, an absence of major signs of depression according to the Beck Depression Inventory - Short form (BDI; score ≤ 13; Beck & Steer, 1993) and absence of anxiety based on the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAS; score ≤ 18; Hamilton, 1959)
Despite the fact that no cognitive profile can be drawn owing to the heterogeneous nature of lesions inherent in this condition, autobiographical memory (AbM) seems to be sensitive to MS neuropathology, which argues for its routine assessment
Summary
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an immune inflammatory pathology characterised by the multifocal nature of neurological lesions and the diversity of its neu-ropathological processes (i.e., demyelination, white and grey matter injuries, atrophy; Trapp & Nave, 2008), which results in a wide variety of symptoms.With regard to cognition in MS, Rao, Leo, Bernardin, and Unverzagt (1991) demonstrated cognitive impairments in 30-70% of MS patients. The cognitive domains that are frequently reported as being affected include attention, information processing speed, executive functions and, anterograde memory, which seems to be the most frequently impaired function (40-60% of MS patients; Calabrese, 2006; Rogers & Panegyres, 2007). Two dimensions of personal remote memory seem important in the present context: its influence in everyday life and its neuroanatomical characteristics. We briefly develop these issues before considering personal remote memory in MS patients. Personal remote memory encompasses semantic and episodic components. The former corresponds to factual personal knowledge (personal semantics) with no sense of reliving the event during its recollection
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