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Memory interference in multiple sclerosis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2005

STEPHANIE Y. GRIFFITHS ,
AIKO YAMAMOTO ,
VANESSA G. BOUDREAU ,
LESLIE K. ROSS ,
ELIZABETH KOZORA  and
ALLEN E. THORNTON
STEPHANIE Y. GRIFFITHS
Affiliation:
Human Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
AIKO YAMAMOTO
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioral Medicine and Psychiatry, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, West Virginia
VANESSA G. BOUDREAU
Affiliation:
Human Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
LESLIE K. ROSS
Affiliation:
Institute for Health and Aging, Department of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, California
ELIZABETH KOZORA
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver, Colorado Department of Psychiatry, University of Colorado, School of Medicine, Denver, Colorado
ALLEN E. THORNTON
Affiliation:
Human Neuropsychology Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
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Abstract

To explore verbal memory impairments associated with multiple sclerosis (MS), we compared proactive and retroactive interference effects on the California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT; Delis et al., 1987) in a sample of 83 community-residing individuals with MS and 80 healthy participants. Individuals with MS demonstrated normal accumulation of proactive interference (PI), but attenuated release from PI relative to healthy individuals. Furthermore, accumulation of retroactive interference (RI) at short-delay free recall (SDFR) was intensified for those with MS as compared to healthy participants. Interestingly, accumulation of RI predicted long-term memory (LTM) only for participants with MS. These findings suggest that individuals with MS may experience particular difficulty when required to use semantic properties of information flexibly to facilitate verbal LTM. (JINS, 2005, 11, 737–746.)

Keywords

Verbal learningMemory disordersSemanticsNeuropsychologyCognitionDemyelinating autoimmune diseases
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society , Volume 11 , Issue 6 , October 2005 , pp. 737 - 746
Copyright
© 2005 The International Neuropsychological Society

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