summary: It is known that memory disturbances can be a prevalent symptom in MS, having a detrimental effect on daily life. The authors aimed to investigate which memory processes were affected in MS, and their association with impairment of the brain white matter (WM) fibre tracts, by using the California Verbal Learning Test as a clinical tool. They found that people with MS mainly had impairments in encoding and consolidation, in contrast to other studies, claiming retrieval deficits as the main cause of memory disturbances in MS. Since they did not find significant associations between memory scores and impairment of WM fibre tracts, they suggest that further studies investigating compensatory brain mechanisms related to memory processes in MS are needed.

authors: Fink F, Eling P, Rischkau E, Beyer N, Tomandl B, Klein J, Hildebrandt H

source: Mult Scler. 2010 Feb 11

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