At more severe intensity, lapses in memory are likely to occur leaving the individual unable to remember what was said, done or planned. Normal scores on standard cognitive tests traditionally employed in neuropsychological testing can be expected among individuals experiencing dissociation for other reasons. Cognitive tests provide indirect information about brain function. When performance is poor, brain dysfunction is inferred. Memory failure for day to day events is a well-established finding with dissociation.
Dissociation is low in patients with medically established brain damage.
Therefore, there is no logical reason to expect memory difficulties arising from dissociation to be associated with impaired performance on cognitive tests. Tests of dissociation are the appropriate measure for detecting memory failures arising from dissociation. Poor memory is frequently traceable to compromised attention. Impaired sensory processing of tasks involving complex stimulus sources is common in patients with fibromyalgia. The deficiencies come into play when environmental stimuli require the individual to simultaneously process information from multiple channels, activity common to real life situations, but not detectable by commonly administered measures of short-term memory.