Investigation of Autobiographical Memory Performance in Depressed and Non-depressed Patients with Multiple Sclerosis versus healthy controls

Aim and

Although several research investigated memory status of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), but the autobiographical memory and the role of depression on it have been neglected. Therefore the purpose of this study was to investigate autobiographical memory performance in depressed and non-depressed patients with MS and to compare them with healthy control.. Methods and Materials: In this Causal-Comparative research 52 patients with MS (26 depressed and 26 non-depressed patients) from Kashani hospital in Isfahan in 2012 & 2013 and 26 healthy controls were selected and were assessed through the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT). The data was analysed with the use of covariance

The results indicated significant (p<0.01) differences in autobiographical memory performance between three investigated groups. Based on the results, depressed patients with MS has less specific memories retrieval, most over-general memories retrieval and most time latency for memories retrieval and healthy control has most specific memories retrieval, less over-general memories retrieval and less time latency for memories retrieval

The autobiographical memory performance in patients with MS not only is affected by neurologic injuries but also it is affected by depression. Depression can intensify autobiographical memory dysfunctions and can alter type of memories.