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Exploring the Working Memory System

Irene Litvan, MD; Jordan Grafman, PhD; Pere Vendrell, PhD; José M. Martinez, MD; Carme Junqué, PhD; Josep M. Vendrell, MD; J. Luis Barraquer-Bordas, MD

Arch Neurol. 1988;45(6):607-610.

Abstract
• Some patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) demonstrate impaired memory. A group of 16 patients with MS who were mildly to moderately affected (Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale Score = 3.8) were studied, and they were compared with a matched control group on tests of "working memory." The working memory system was explored by evaluating the amount of information that can temporarily be held in a buffer system during encoding. Results indicated that patients with MS have difficulty in processing information at the level of a hypothesized articulatory loop in working memory. This deficit was correlated with their retrieval of verbal information from long-term memory, as well as how accurately they processed verbal information presented at a rapid rate. There was no significant relationship between ratings of MS severity or number of plaques visualized on magnetic resonance imaging scans and the degree of working memory deficit.

Author Affiliations
From the Experimental Therapeutics (Dr Litvan) and Medical Neurology (Dr Grafman) Branches, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md; and the Department of Neurology, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain (Drs P. Vendrell, Martinez, Junqué, J. M. Vendrell, and Barraquer-Bordas).

Footnotes
Accepted for publication Jan 5, 1988.

Presented at the Tenth European Conference of the International Neuropsychology Society, Barcelona, Spain, July 2, 1987.

Reprint requests to Experimental Therapeutics Branch, Bldg 10, Room 5C106, National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892 (Dr Litvan).

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