MEMORY AND FRONTAL-LOBE DYSFUNCTION IN MULTIPLE-SCLEROSIS

The characteristics of memory disturbance in multiple sclerosis (MS) are briefly reviewed and the interactions of conceptual and memory dysfunction in MS are considered. Although conceptual functions such as abstraction and problem solving traditionally have been considered to be frontal lobe functions, there is now convincing evidence from studies of patients with focal brain lesions that these capacities are not localized to the frontal lobes. Thus, the concept of frontal lobe dysfunction in MS is without empirical support. Nevertheless, studies examining the relationship between memory and conceptual impairment in MS have value for both basic and clinical neuroscience.