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Neuropsychological and psychiatric abnormalities in myalgic encephalomyelitis: A preliminary report.
Authors:
Riccio, M., Thompson, C., Wilson, B.A., Morgan, D.J.R. & Lant, A.F.
Reference:
British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 31, 111-120.
Year of publication:
1992
CBU number:
2762
Abstract:
Ten patients attending one general medical hospital clinic who fulfilled operational criteria for the diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) and with a history longer than three months, underwent a series of standardised neuropsychological and psychiatric tests. Nine were able to complete the tests and were individually matched with a normal control group for age, sex, educational background and premorbid intelligence. The ME subjects showed inferior performance to the controls on two tests of verbal memory. Their personality scores displayed less extraversion and less psychoticism. This is the first report of objective neuro-psychological abnormalities in patients with ME, suggesting a discrete deterioration of short-term memory. The findings may also suggest a concurrent psychiatric component of the condition, but the direction of causality remains to be clarified.