Guide to Common Neurological Examinations
Assessing mental impairment
Although MS can affect certain mental functions, this is not true for everyone with the disease and it is not a common early sign. Nonetheless, examination of mental status helps to eliminate other problems such as affective (mood) disorders.
Depression, a significant clinical problem by itself, can also occur during MS, making it difficult to distinguish the precise cause.
Cognitive disorders, such as short-term memory loss, lack of concentration, or disorientation of time or place, can have several causes but may also be seen in people with MS.
Tests of mental function include asking you to:
• name the day, time, your country's leader (e.g. Prime Minister, President, etc.) to test for orientation of time, place and person
• remember a list of three unrelated items for about 5 minutes, or to repeat a list of seven random numbers forward and four in reverse to test for immediate recall
• describe the colour of the first car you bought or the colour/description of your wedding-day outfit
• use abstract thought to draw analogies between two different concepts, e.g. the sea was like a shining silver mirror
• name simple objects to test for language function
• imitate simple and complex finger constructions to measure spatial relationships
Other similar tests may also be employed.
