Prospective memory in multiple sclerosis

Abstract

There is considerable evidence that multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with impaired retrospective memory. However, although preliminary evidence suggests that prospective memory is also affected by the disorder, the degree and nature of the impairment remains to be clarified. Twenty participants with MS were compared with 20 matched controls on Virtual Week, a measure of prospective memory that closely represents the types of prospective memory tasks that actually occur in everyday life, and provides an opportunity to investigate the different sorts of prospective memory failures that occur. The results indicated that irrespective of the specific prospective memory task demands, MS participants' performance was significantly impaired relative to controls. MS deficits could not be attributed to problems with retrospective memory because MS participants in the present study did not differ significantly from controls on measures of long-and short-term memory, and significant impairment was observed on a prospective memory task, which imposed only minimal demands on retrospective memory. These results therefore suggest that individuals with MS may experience general difficulties with prospective memory. The practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed. (JINS, 2007, 13, 410-416.)

Event-based prospective memory in depression: The impact of cue focality

“…From a clinical perspective, our findings have important implications for the design of everyday PM tasks: External structure may help to control attentional resources and strategic processing within PM tasks (Rendell, Jensen, & Henry, 2007). Thus, PM tasks should be incorporated in individuals' daily routines and should always be presented in their focus of attention.…”

Drinking and future thinking: acute effects of alcohol on prospective memory and future simulation

“…In support of this is the significant deleterious effect of alcohol on source memory alongside intact executive functioning. However, alcohol also negatively impacted on regular tasks, those with the least retrospective component (Rendell et al 2007). PM failures cannot therefore be solely attributed to deficits in retrospective memory.…”

Prospective memory impairment in former users of methamphetamine

“…Participants were asked to do a lung test on two occasions, when 2 min 30 s and 4 min 15 s was displayed on the stop clock. There is considerable evidence for the reliability (Henry et al 2007;Rose et al 2007) and validity of this measure (Henry et al 2007;Kardiasmenos et al 2008;Rendell and Craik 2000;Rendell et al 2007b;.…”