A Longitudinal Investigation of Cognitive Symptoms and Cognitive Performance in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem inflammatory autoimmune disease that manifests in physical symptoms and central nervous system impairment. Cognitive impairment in SLE is difficult to define and can be affected by several variables such as stress and anxiety. We surveyed three participants diagnosed with SLE over a period of ten weeks, measuring cognitive and physical symptoms via inventories, multiple environmental variables, such as temperature and sunlight exposure, and cognitive ability on tasks of working memory, short term memory, and inhibition. Self-reported cognitive symptoms did not correlate with cognitive performance on several memory tasks. However, cognitive symptoms were strongly correlated with physical symptoms, negative affect, diet, stress, sunlight exposure, and anxiety. Tasks of inhibition were influenced by sunlight exposure.