Variants of personality maladaptation in patients with multiple sclerosis.

A total of 34 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) aged 14-52 years, with disease onset at age 24.3 +/- 7.5 years, were studied. Disease severity on the Kurtzke scale (EDSS) was 3.6 +/- 1.7 points. Seven patients were in exacerbation of MS and 27 were in remission. Personality characteristics in terms of MS-associated maladaptation were studied using a modified MMPI (the SMPT method). Neurotic, psychotic, and mixed types of maladaptation were identified. Measures of brain metabolic activity were simultaneously determined (in terms of the rate of glucose utilization) by positron emission tomography (PET). Data were obtained on the relationship between the activity of metabolic processes in the frontal, temporal-parietal, and limbic areas of the cerebral cortex and different variants of personality maladaptation and, respectively, with different personality profiles in the SMPT.