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Abstract:
Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) have consistently
shown impairments in working memory (WM). However, which components
of WM are impaired remain unclear. The present study was aimed at
further identifying the source of this WM deficit through the
administration of an auditory n-back task and the Paced Auditory
Serial Addition Test (PASAT). The auditory n-back task assesses
storage and rehearsal/maintenance while the PASAT assesses the
additional components of central executive and information
processing speed. Subjects consisted of 31 individuals with
clinically definite MS and 17 healthy controls. MS subjects
performed significantly worse than the control group on the PASAT
(T (1,46) = 2.78, p<.008), however, there was no difference in
the two groups performance on the n-back (T (1,46) = 1.4. p
<.167). The results showed that working memory difficulties in
MS appear to be primarily in central executive abilities rather
than storage and rehearsal. The results are discussed within the
framework of Baddeleys model of working memory.
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