Beginner's Guide to MS: Cognitive Function, Multiple Sclerosis, and Neuropsychology

By Lisa Emrich, Health Guide Friday, January 23, 2009
In reading Mandy’s recent posts on Word Salads and Fears and the comments which followed, I got to thinking (which is sometimes a dangerous thing, hehe).  How many of us know what is involved in the first steps to determine whether or not MS has affected our cognitive function?   I&...
Mandy Crest, Health Guide
1/23/09 4:22pm

After reading the specifics of the tests, I'd like to go hide somewhere. I have a sinking feeling that I would not perform well. Undecided Time will tell, I suppose.

 

Thanks for doing your usual stellar research!

 

 

1/20/11 7:11am

I'm a guy who finished graduate school, and recently was given an early diagnosis based upon a partial vision issue in one eye and several MRI's (Brain, cervical).  I am 46.

 

Quite frankly, I was never good with remembering lists of numbers or items back when younger.  I remember how challenging it was to be a waiter for a summer, when I had to remember an extra fork for this one, ketchup or sour cream for that one.

 

Now give me something to study, and take notes on it -- so I could completely understand it, and you will never, ever spin me around so I came out with a wrong conclusion.

 

Its like the Police Officer who asks the driver to get out and stand on one foot.  What makes him think he could do that without ever having touched alcohol.  There simply is no baseline to compare it to.   And, that is the frustating part . . .

2/25/11 11:18am

I'm off for a neuropsych assessment myself.  My neurologist is of the opinion that since I can walk and occasionally appear alert, I am capable of working. Of course, he hasn't seen me when the fatigue creeps over me and drowns me like a rising tide, nor does he appreciate that hours of exercise are the reason for my continuing physical ability. So off I go to pay vast sums for the assessment, which is not covered by insurance.

I'm looking forward to it, though it sounds exhausting. I'm unsure of what I've lost, what I've retained. I know I've become less cautious, less appropriate, foggier in my judgments, that I have more difficulty with decisions and money and all that.My short term memory is pretty bad unless I rehearse extremely, and I used to be able to keep many threads in my head all at once no problem.  I'm eager to have a concrete assessment, though I presume it will end up like your experience - well, you're depressed.....

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By Lisa Emrich, Health Guide— Last Modified: 07/10/12, First Published: 01/23/09