The role of metamemory on cognitive complaints in cancer patients

Bénédicte Giffard (1, 2) , Audrey Perrotin (2) , Philippe Allain (3) , Jacques Dayan (2, 4) , Francis Eustache (2) , Jean-Michel Grellard (5) , Audrey Faveyrial (6) , Florence Joly (1, 5, 7, 8) , Marie Lange (1, 5, 7)

1 Plateforme Cancer et Cognition
2 NIMH - Neuropsychologie et imagerie de la mémoire humaine
3 LPPL - Laboratoire de Psychologie des Pays de la Loire
4 Centre Hospitalier Guillaume Régnier [Rennes]
5 CRC - Centre de recherche clinique [CHU Caen]
6 UNICANCER/CRLC - Centre Régional de Lutte contre le Cancer François Baclesse [Caen]
7 ANTICIPE - Unité de recherche interdisciplinaire pour la prévention et le traitement des cancers
8 Service d'Oncologie médicale [CHU Caen]

Objective: Although cancer patients frequently report cognitive disturbances, it is commonly asserted a lack of association between cognitive complaints and neuropsychological test performances. Our goal was to better understand the relationships between subjective and objective cognitive scores through a metamemory monitoring assessment. Methods: Sixty cancer patients currently treated by chemotherapy and/or targeted therapy, and 30 healthy controls (HC) were included. Cognitive complaint was assessed by FACT-cog, QAM and DEX questionnaires. One or more z-scores ≤-1.65 among these three questionnaires defined the presence of cognitive complaints. Objective cognitive performances assessed episodic memory, processing speed and executive functions/working memory (ESR paradigm, TMT, Stroop, n-back). Metamemory was assessed with a Judgment of Learning (JOL) task. Results: Patients with cognitive complaints had significantly more depressive and anxiety symptoms (ps < .004), and lower performances on several cognitive tests (ps < .05) than both patients without complaints and HC. More specifically, analyses of the metamemory scores revealed that HC gave significantly more overestimations ("Yes" judgment and incorrect recall) than patients with cognitive complaints (p = .036). For these patients, JOL scores correlated positively with executive functioning (ps < .01). Conclusion: Metamemory monitoring seems to be well-preserved during cancer. What is more, patients make less overestimation than HC, and they do not underestimate their memory. An accurate self-estimation of memory abilities in cancer patients, particularly those with mild cognitive deficits, may play an adaptive function. Our results suggest that the discrepancy frequently reported between cognitive complaints and objective cognitive scores may not be related to metamemory monitoring dysfunction.

Mots clés: cancer patients; cognition; memory; metacognition; metacognitive monitoring; metamemory; neuropsychology.

Domaines: Neurosciences [q-bio.NC]

Bénédicte Giffard, Audrey Perrotin, Philippe Allain, Jacques Dayan, Francis Eustache, et al.. The role of metamemory on cognitive complaints in cancer patients. Brain and Behavior, 2020, 10 (4), pp.e01545. ⟨10.1002/brb3.1545⟩. ⟨inserm-02860085⟩