[Memory complaints and anxiety. Apropos of 40 patients attending a specialized memory consultation].

This study reports results of the specialized memory consultation based on 2 successive examinations, one by a neurologist, the other by a psychologist, of 40 anxious subjects with or without social phobias. Traumatic events were frequent and we observed Alzheimer's disease in the family of 41.9% of subjects. Anxious subjects obtained a high score in Mac Nair questionnaire [44.05 (16,49)]. Their principal complaints were attentional difficulties. They obtained normal but low performances for free recall of 10 pictures, logical memory (QM), and inverse span. Mac Nair score was only correlated with logical memory score. Standardized psychometric evaluation showed short-term memory difficulties. Attention seems to be unstable and anxious individuals have relatively limited attentional resources. They are preoccupied by their anxiety and thus have less ability to focus on tasks.