Comparison of Reading the Mind in the Eyes, Selective Attention and Working Memory in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis and Non-Patients

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Psychology department, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran

2 M.S. in clinical psychology, Alzahra university, Tehran, Iran

3 Psychology department,, Faculty of education and psychology, Alzahra university, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

The aim of this study was to compare reading the mind in the eyes and executive functions (selective attention and working memory) in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and non-patients. Participants were included of 40 patients with MS and 40 non-patients that matched in ages, education and sex. Instruments including Reading mind in the eyes (Baron-Cohen and et., 2001), N back (Kirchner, 1958) and Stroop (Stroop, 1935) have been used to investigate reading the mind in the eyes, working memory and selective attention. MANOVA showed a significant difference between the patients and non-patients in the ‘reading the mind through the eyes’ test, the working memory components (the correct response and the mean of the response time) as well as the incongruent items as the components of selective attention. The comprehensive impact of MS disease on cognitive domains highlights the importance of addressing its cognitive aspects along with the development of effective therapeutic interventions. 

Keywords


Adler, G., &Lembach, Y. (2015). Memory and selective attention in multiple sclerosis: cross-sectional computer-based assessment in a large outpatient sample. European Archives of Psychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience. 265 (5): 439-443.
Adolphs, R., Damasio, H., Tranel, D., Cooper, G., & Damasio, A. R. (2000). A role for somatosensory cortices in the visual recognition of emotion as revealed by three-dimensional lesion mapping. The Journal of Neuroscience20(7): 2683-2690.‏
Apperly, I. A., Samson, D., Chiavarino, C., & Humphreys, G. W. (2004). Frontal and tempera-parietal lobe contributions to theory of mind: neuropsychological evidence from a false-belief task with reduced language and executive demands. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience16(10): 1773-1784.‏
Baddeley, A. (2000). The episodic buffer: a new component of working memory? Trends in cognitive sciences4(11): 417-423.‏
Baddeley, A. D., & Hitch, G. (1974). Working memory. Psychology of learning and motivation8: 47-89.‏
Baddeley, A., Logie, R., Bressi, S., Sala, S. D., & Spinnler, H. (1986). Dementia and working memory. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology38(4): 603-618.‏
Bahrami, H., Nejati, V., Pouretemad, M. R. (2012). Comparison of selective and transient attention in children and adolescence with developmental stuttering and their matched healthy group. Journal of Applied Psychology, 6(1): 23-35. (in Persian).
Banati, M., Sandor, J., Mike, A., Illes, E., Bors, L., Feldmann, A., ... & Illes, Z. (2010). Social cognition and Theory of Mind in patients with relapsing‐remitting multiple sclerosis. European journal of neurology17(3): 426-433.‏
Baron-Cohen, S. (1991). Precursors to a theory of mind: Understanding attention in others. In A. Whiten (Ed.), Natural theories of mind: Evolution, development and simulation of everyday mindreading (pp. 233-251). Cambridge, MA, US: Basil Blackwell.
Baron‐Cohen, S., Wheelwright, S., Hill, J., Raste, Y., & Plumb, I. (2001). The “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” test revised version: A study with normal adults, and adults with Asperger syndrome or high‐functioning autism. Journal of child psychology and psychiatry42(2): 241-251.‏
Batista, S., Freitas, S., Afonso, A., Macario, C., Sousa, L., & Santana, L. (2017). Theory of Mind and Executive Functions are Dissociated in Multiple Sclerosis. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 27: 1- 11.
Beatty, W. W., Orbelo, D. M., Sorocco, K. H., & Ross, E. D. (2003). Comprehension of affective prosody in multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis, 9(2): 148-153.‏
Calabrese, P. (2006). Neuropsychology of multiple sclerosis. Journal of Neurology253(1): i10-i15.‏
Carlson, S. M., Mandell, D. J., & Williams, L. (2004). Executive function and theory of mind: stability and prediction from ages 2 to 3. Developmental psychology40(6): 1105-1122.
Chiaravalloti, N. D., & DeLuca, J. (2008). Cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis. The Lancet Neurology7(12): 1139-1151.‏
Chow, H. H., Schreiber, K., Magyari, M., Ammitzboll, C., Bornsen, L., Christensen, J. R., Ratzer, R., Sorensen, P. S., & Sellebjerg, F. (2018). Progressive multiple sclerosis, cognitive function, and quality of life. Brain Behavior, doi:  [10.1002/brb3.875]
Conway, A. R., Jarrold, C. E., Kane, M. J., Miyake, A., & Towse, J. N. (2007). Variation in working memory. Oxford University Press.‏
Coo, H., Hopman, W. M., Edgar, C. M., McBride, E. V., & Brunet, D. G. (2005). The Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test: to what extent is it performed as instructed, and is it associated with disease course? Multiple sclerosis,11(1): 85-89.‏
Corbetta, M., & Shulman, G. L. (2002). Control of goal-directed and stimulus-driven attention in the brain. Nature reviews neuroscience3(3): 201-215.‏
Decety, J., & Jackson, P. L. (2004). The functional architecture of human empathy. Behavioral and cognitive neuroscience reviews3(2): 71-100.‏
Fockert, J. D., Rees, G., Frith, C. D., & Lavie, N. (2004). Neural correlates of attentional capture in visual search. Cognitive Neuroscience, Journal of16(5): 751-759.‏
Forn, C., Barros‐Loscertales, A., Escudero, J., Benlloch, V., Campos, S., Antònia Parcet, M., & Ávila, C. (2007). Compensatory activations in patients with multiple sclerosis during preserved performance on the auditory N‐back task. Human brain mapping28(5): 424-430.
Grech, L. B., Kiropoulos, L. A., Kirby, K. M., Butler, E., Paine, M., & Hester, R. (2017). Executive function is an important consideration for coping strategy use in people with multiple sclerosis. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 39 (8): 817-831.
Green, R. E., Turner, G. R., & Thompson, W. F. (2004). Deficits in facial emotion perception in adults with recent traumatic brain injury. Neuropsychologia42(2): 133-141.‏
Harris, P. (1990). The child's theory of mind and its cultural context. In G. Butterworth & P. Bryant (Eds.), Causes of development: Interdisciplinary perspectives (pp. 215-237). Hillsdale, NJ, US: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
Henry, A., Tourbah, A., Chaunu, M. P., Rumbach, L., Montreuil, M., & Bakchine, S. (2011). Social cognition impairments in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 17(06): 1122-1131.
Henry, J. D., Phillips, L. H., Beatty, W. W., McDonald, S., Longley, W. A., Joscelyne, A., & Rendell, P. G. (2009). Evidence for deficits in facial affect recognition and theory of mind in multiple sclerosis. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 15(02): 277-285.
Hopfinger, J. B., Buonocore, M. H., & Mangun, G. R. (2000). The neural mechanisms of top-down attentional control. Nature neuroscience, 3(3): 284-291.
Hughes, C., & Ensor, R. (2007). Executive function and theory of mind: Predictive relations from ages 2 to 4. Developmental psychology, 43(6): 1447.‏
Kane, M. J., Conway, A. R., Miura, T. K., & Colflesh, G. J. (2007). Working memory, attention control, and the N-back task: a question of construct validity. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 33(3): 615.‏
Karimi Aliabad, T., Kafi, S. M., & Farahi, H. (2000). Study of Executive Functions in Bipolar Disorders Patients. Advances in Cognitive Sciences, 12(2): 29-39. (in Persian).
Kirchner, W. K. (1958). Age differences in short-term retention of rapidly changing information. Journal of experimental psychology, 55(4): 352.‏
Kraemer, M., Herold, M., Uekermann, J., Kis, B., Wiltfang, J., Daum, I., ... & Abdel-Hamid, M. (2013). Theory of mind and empathy in patients at an early stage of relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. Clinical neurology and neurosurgery, 115(7): 1016-1022.
Lensch, E., Matzke, M., Petereit, H. F., Scherer, P., Schramm, S., & Calabrese, P. (2006). Identification and management of cognitive disorders in multiple sclerosis. Journal of neurology, 253(1): i29-i31.‏
‏Leslie, A. M., & Polizzi, P. (1998). Inhibitory processing in the false belief task: Two conjectures. Developmental Science, 1(2): 247-253.‏
Mainero, C., Caramia, F., Pozzilli, C., Pisani, A., Pestalozza, I., Borriello, G., ... & Pantano, P. (2004). fMRI evidence of brain reorganization during attention and memory tasks in multiple sclerosis. Neuroimage, 21(3): 858-867.‏
Mainero, C., Pantano, P., Caramia, F., & Pozzilli, C. (2006). Brain reorganization during attention and memory tasks in multiple sclerosis: insights from functional MRI studies. Journal of the neurological sciences, 245(1): 93-98.‏
Mendelsohn, D., Riedel, W. J., & Sambeth, A. (2009). Effects of acute tryptophan depletion on memory, attention and executive functions: a systematic review. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 33(6): 926-952.‏
Messinis, L., Papathanasopoulos, P., Kosmidis, M. H., Nasions, G., & Kambanaros, M. (2018). Neuropsychological Features of Multiple Sclerosis Impact and Rehabilitation. Behavioral Neurology, https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4831647.
Moses, L. J. (2001). Executive accounts of theory-of-mind development. Child development, 72(3): 688-690.‏
Müller, U., Liebermann-Finestone, D. P., Carpendale, J. I., Hammond, S. I., & Bibok, M. B. (2012). Knowing minds, controlling actions: The developmental relations between theory of mind and executive function from 2 to 4years of age. Journal of experimental child psychology, 111(2): 331-348.
Nejati, V., Zabihzadeh, A., Nikfarjam, R., Naderi, Z., & Pournaghdali, A. (2012). Correlation between Mindfulness and Mind Reading through Eye Image. Zahedan Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 14(1): 37-42. (in Persian).
Ouellet, J., Scherzer, P. B., Rouleau, I., Metras, P., Bertrand-Gauvin, C., Djerroud, N., ... & Duquette, P. (2010). Assessment of social cognition in patients with multiple sclerosis. Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 16(2): 287-296.
Penner, I. K., Rausch, M., Hardmeier, M., Kappos, L., & Radü, E. W. (2001). Altered functional activation in MS patients with reduced attentional performance demonstrated with functional MRI. Neuroimage, 13(6): 347-347.
Phillips, L. H., Henry, J. D., Scott, C., Summers, F., Whyte, M., & Cook, M. (2011). Specific impairments of emotion perception in multiple sclerosis. Neuropsychology, 25(1): 131-136.
Pöttgen, J., Dziobek, I., Reh, S., Heesen, C., & Gold, S. M. (2013). Impaired social cognition in multiple sclerosis. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2012-304157
Premack, D., & Woodruff, G. (1978). Does the chimpanzee have a theory of mind? Behavioral and brain sciences, 1(04): 515-526.
Rämä, P., Martinkauppi, S., Linnankoski, I., Koivisto, J., Aronen, H. J., & Carlson, S. (2001). Working memory of identification of emotional vocal expressions: an fMRI study. Neuroimage, 13(6): 1090-1101.
Ruffman, T., Henry, J. D., Livingstone, V., & Phillips, L. H. (2008). A meta-analytic review of emotion recognition and aging: Implications for neuropsychological models of aging. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 32(4): 863-881.
Russell, J. (1996). Agency, its role in mental development. The Psychology Press.‏ 1st edition.
Shahnazari, M., & Haeri, H. (2016). The effect of group cognitive-behavioral therapy on the obsessive rumination and anxiety in patients with Multiple Sclerosis. Applied Psychological Research Quarterly, 7(1): 155-167. (in Persian).
Shallice, T. I. M., & Burgess, P. W. (1991). Deficits in strategy application following frontal lobe damage in man. Brain, 114(2): 727-741.‏
Smith, E. E., & Jonides, J. (1999). Storage and executive processes in the frontal lobes. Science, 283(5408): 1657-1661.
Sperling, R. A., Guttmann, C. R., Hohol, M. J., Warfield, S. K., Jakab, M., Parente, M., ... & Weiner, H. L. (2001). Regional magnetic resonance imaging lesion burden and cognitive function in multiple sclerosis: a longitudinal study. Archives of neurology, 58(1): 115-121.‏
Sprengelmeyer, R., Rausch, M., Eysel, U. T., & Przuntek, H. (1998). Neural structures associated with recognition of facial expressions of basic emotions. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 265(1409): 1927-1931.
‏ Staffen, W., Mair, A., Zauner, H., Unterrainer, J., Niederhofer, H., Kutzelnigg, A., ... & Ladurner, G. (2002). Cognitive function and fMRI in patients with multiple sclerosis: evidence for compensatory cortical activation during an attention task. Brain, 125(6): 1275-1282.‏
Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18(6): 643-662
Sweet, L. H., Rao, S. M., Primeau, M., Mayer, A. R., & Cohen, R. A. (2004). Functional magnetic resonance imaging of working memory among multiple sclerosis patients. Journal of Neuroimaging, 14(2): 150-157.
Tabachnick, B.G. & Fidell, L.S. (2001) Using Multivariate Statistics. 4th Edition, Allyn and Bacon, Boston. 4th Edition.
Treisman, A. & Gelade, G. (1980). A feature integration theory of attention. Cognitive Psychology. 12: 97-136.
Troster, A.I. & Arnett, P.A. (2008). Assessment of movement and demyelinating disorders. In P. J. Snyder, P. D., Nussbaum & D.L. Robins (Eds.) Clinical Neuropsychology: A pocket handbook for assessment. Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
Vellante, M., Baron-Cohen, S., Melis, M., Marrone, M., Petretto, D. R., Massala, C. & Preti, A. (2013). The “reading the mind in the eyes” test: systematicreview of psychometric properties and a validation study in Italy. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 18(4): 326-354.
Wishart, H. A., Saykin, A. J., McDonald, B. C., Mamourian, A. C., Flashman, L. A., Schuschu, K. R., ... & Kasper, L. H. (2004). Brain activation patterns associated with working memory in relapsing-remitting MS. Neurology, 62(2): 234-238.
Wuerfel, E., Weddige, A., Hagmayer, Y., Jacob, R., Wedekind, L., Stark, W., &Gartner, J. (2018). Cognitive deficits including executive functioning in relation to clinical parameters in paediatric MS patients. Public Library of Science One, 13 (3):e0194873
 
Volume 9, Issue 3
December 2018
Pages 143-159
  • Receive Date: 22 January 2019
  • Accept Date: 22 January 2019
  • First Publish Date: 22 January 2019
  • Publish Date: 23 September 2018