P381 Event-related potentials and personality type in patients with multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Objectives The clinical course of multiple sclerosis (MS) can vary significantly among patients and is affected by many factors. Among these, psychoaffective aspects, including the type of personality, have been recently gaining attention. The aim of our study was to investigate the parameters of event-related potentials (ERP) with regards to personality type in MS patients. Methods 30 relapsing-remitting MS patients (26 women and 4 men, mean age 34.9 years) and 26 healthy, age- and gender-matched controls were included in the study. All the patients were being treated with disease-modifying agents (interferon beta or glatiramer acetate) and presented with mild degree of disability (up to 3.0 in Expanded Disability Status Scale) All MS patients and controls underwent auditory ERP with the assessment of N200 and P300 components. D-type Scale (DS 14) was performed in the patients to determine the features of type D personality, characterized by social inhibition and negative affectivity. Relationships were searched between ERP parameters and DS 14 results, using v.10 of STATISTICA statistical software. Results P300 and N200 latencies were significantly longer ( p p R = 0.53, p R = −0.28, p Conclusions MS patients presented with abnormalities of ERP in comparison with the controls. ERP parameters showed significant relationships with features of D-type personality, including negative affectivity.