title: Memory and multitasking performance during acute allergic inflammation in seasonal allergic rhinitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In previous research, patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) showed poorer school and work performance during periods of acute allergic inflammation, supporting the idea of an impact of SAR on cognitive functions. However, the specific cognitive domains particularly vulnerable to inflammatory processes are unclear.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  In this study, the influence of SAR on memory and multitasking performance, as two potentially vulnerable cognitive domains essential in everyday life functioning, was investigated in patients with SAR.
  
  
  METHODS
  Non-medicated patients with SAR (n = 41) and healthy non-allergic controls (n = 42) performed a dual-task paradigm and a verbal learning and memory test during and out of symptomatic allergy periods (pollen vs. non-pollen season). Disease-related factors (e.g. symptom severity, duration of symptoms, duration of disease) and allergy-related quality of life were evaluated as potential influences of cognitive performance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During the symptomatic allergy period, patients showed (1) poorer performance in word list-based learning (P = 0.028) and (2) a general slowing in processing speed (P < 0.001) and a shift in processing strategy (P < 0.001) in multitasking. Yet, typical parameters indicating specific multitasking costs were not affected. A significant negative association was found between learning performance and duration of disease (r = -0.451, P = 0.004), whereas symptom severity (r = 0.326; P = 0.037) and quality of life (r = 0.379; P = 0.015) were positively associated with multitasking strategy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that SAR has a differentiated and complex impact on cognitive functions, which should be considered in the management of SAR symptoms. They also call attention to the importance of selecting sensitive measures and carefully interpreting cognitive outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9743-6908
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Trikojat
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buske-Kirschbaum
authors.affiliation: Neuroendocrine Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.|Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Plessow
authors.affiliation: Centre for Evidence-Based Health Care, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schmitt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fischer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003071:Cognition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D011788:Quality of Life; D011930:Reaction Time; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D063189:Symptom Assessment; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: learning and memory; multitasking; processing speed; psychoneuroimmunology; seasonal allergic rhinitis