Affiliations: Department of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece | Department of Psychology, University of Crete,
Rethymno, Greece | Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Crete, Heraklion, Greece
Note: [] Corresponding author: Prof. Panagiotis G. Simos, Department of
Psychology, University of Crete, Rethymno, 74100, Greece. E-mail:
[email protected]
Abstract: The study investigates primary and secondary verbal memory and
motor/executive functions (response inhibition and strategy shifting ability)
in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). We
studied 44 CIS patients and compared them to 49 patients with relapsing
remitting MS (RR-MS) displaying mild disability and to a large cohort of age-
and education level-matched healthy volunteers(n=230). Results showed that both
CIS and RR-MS patients evidenced a disproportionate impairment in the immediate
and delayed recall of the second (as compared to the first) of two short
narratives of the Logical Memory WMS-III subtest, and reduced performance on
the Memory for Digits-Forward. Performance of either group on the executive
tasks was not impaired, showing evidence of a reversed speed-accuracy
trade-off. Illness duration emerged as a significant predictor of memory and
executive task performance. Clinical, psychoemotional, and brain imaging
findings were also examined as potential correlates of memory deficits and
disease progression among CIS patients. These findings may signify early-onset
decline of specific cognitive functions in CIS, which merits regular follow-up
assessments and monitoring of psychoemotional adaptation and everyday
functioning.
Keywords: Multiple sclerosis, memory, executive function
