Paulo com o apoio financeiro da CAPES, FAPESP e CNPq. ABSTRACT Teixeira, R.A.A. (2012) Relationship between cognitive functions and acquired color vision loss in patients with relapsing-remitting type of multiple sclerosis. Thesis (Doctoral), Psychology Institute, University of São Paulo, São Paulo. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease characterized by demyelination and central nervous system (CNS) degeneration. It is two times more frequent in women. It can be

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... in two subtypes: the relapsing-remitting (RR), most common type, characterized by two or more episodes of focal disorders in different sites of the CNS, and remission of the symptoms; and the progressive subtype, less common, characterized by a continuous worsening of the symptoms, since the beginning, usually with no remissions. The present research evaluated color vision impairment and its relationship to attention loss, short-term memory, long-term memory, working memory and executive function in patients with the relapsingremitting MS type. Methods: 41 patients with multiple sclerosis (20 to 58 years, 35.4 ± 12.2 in average) and 37 controls matched to age (34.7 ± 12.1 in average) and years of education participated of the study. Color vision was tested using the Cambridge Colour Test (CCT) and the neuropsychological assessment was performed using tests of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Testing Automated Battery (CANTAB) -Pattern Recognition Memory, Spatial Span, Spatial Recognition Memory, Information Sampling Task, Stop Signal Task, Rapid Information Processingthe Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories and the Functional Assessment of Multiple Sclerosis quality of life instrument. Results: Color vision was diffusely impaired in 24% of the MS patients, with or with no history of optic neuritis. Patients also showed a delay during the tasks' execution, impairment in attention, short and long-term visual memory and working memory, and slowness in the information processing. There was a relationship between color vision loss and visual memory impairment, but only in tests with complex and highly detailed stimuli.