ABSTRACT
Autoimmune disorders represent a spectrum of conditions in which the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys healthy body tissue. The most extensive investigation regarding the prevalence and biobehavioral correlates of cognitive dysfunction in disorders of autoimmunity has centered on systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, there is accumulating evidence that other autoimmune disorders such as antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and primary Sjogren's syndrome (PSS) commonly feature cognitive dys-function that may be directly associated with the autoimmune pathologic process. The chapter presents the basic epidemiology and reviews the neuropsychological literature in SLE, APS, RA and PSS, four autoimmune disorders that have been the focus of many recent neurobehavioral studies. It discusses the biobehavioral mechanisms and neuroimaging correlates of cognitive dysfunction for these disorders. The mechanisms underlying cognitive abnormalities in SLE remain relatively obscure, and findings across studies remain inconsistent despite improving methodologies.
