Impact of anxiety on verbal and visuospatial working memory in patients with acute stroke without severe cognitive impairment

摘要

Background Working memory is the most impaired cognitive domain in the acute phase of stroke. In a context where anxiety is highly prevalent, close attention must be paid to anxiety which could mimic mild to moderate working memory impairments. This is the first study to assess the contribution of state anxiety ( the currently experienced level of anxiety) to the working memory ( verbal, visuospatial) in patients with first-ever acute stroke without severe cognitive impairment.