Paradoxical State Anxiety and Working Memory in a Patient with Acute Stroke

Abstract

Because of the phonological (subvocal speech) nature of verbal working memory, a higher level of anxious apprehension could explain the increase in state anxiety and the corresponding disruption of verbal working memory in our patient and control groups during the anxiogenic condition. C.B.'s lower state anxiety and selective improvement in verbal working memory during the anxiogenic condition suggest that she felt less anxious apprehension.

Impact of anxiety on verbal and visuospatial working memory in patients with acute stroke without severe cognitive impairment

“…Nevertheless, the interpretation of these deficits may be questionable if we consider that the impact of state anxiety (the currently experienced level of anxiety2) on working memory performance could mimic mild-to-moderate deficits in working memory. This issue is particularly relevant in patients with stroke without severe cognitive impairment who may experience high levels of anxiety3 4 and working memory impairments1 as foreground symptoms which could interfere both with subsequent rehabilitation5 6 and return to work 7 8. It is important to take into consideration that in the acute phase of stroke, stressful events can occur during hospitalisation (eg, medical examination, announcement of diagnosis, neuropsychological assessment3 9), which could increase state anxiety.…”