EVALUATION OF COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS IN NEURODEGENERATION

Abstract

Cognitive functions and their disorders in patients with neurodegenerative diseases are an urgent problem of modern neurology. Such functions include memory, attention, praxis, gnosis, language, thinking, control functions. The study of the neuropsychological profile allows a more accurate picture of the involvement in the pathological process of various brain structures and thus facilitate the differential diagnosis. The aim of the research: on the basis of studying of cognitive features of patients with neurodegenerative (demyelinating) pathology to consider possibilities of their psychoneurological adaptation. Materials and methods. The survey data of 104 patients with remitting type of multiple sclerosis, who were treated at the state institution “Institute of Neurology, Psychiatry and Addiction of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine” are presented. To study the disorders of verbal memory, the method of A. R. Luria “Memorization of 10 words” was used, which allows to estimate such parameters as the amount of direct memory and the strength of delayed memory (i.e. indicators of short-term and long-term memory). The Schulte Table method was used to study arbitrary attention disorders. This technique allows you to evaluate such characteristics of random attention as volume, functions of concentration distribution and switching of attention. Results. The data obtained indicate that, depending on the severity of relapses, there are significant differences in the course of mnestic processes. It was found that in severe variants of remissions in women with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) more pronounced than in men, there is a lack of ability to work and exhaustion. Conclusions. It is concluded that the assessment of cognitive deficit out of connection with personal characteristics and emotional and volitional disorders significantly reduces the informativeness and ability to correct cognitive dysfunction. Timely detection of cognitive and emotional-personal changes can not only improve the quality of life of patients with neurodegenerative diseases, but also act as an independent part of the psychoneurological model of adaptation of this category of patients.