Executive functioning in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients without cognitive impairment: A task-switching protocol

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (10) ◽  
pp. 1328-1336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Migliore ◽  
Giuseppe Curcio ◽  
Alessandro Couyoumdjian ◽  
Anna Ghazaryan ◽  
Doriana Landi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Task Switching ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Information Processing Speed ◽  
Relapsing Remitting ◽  
Remitting Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis Patients ◽  
Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Background: Cognitive dysfunction affects 40%–65% of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, most often affecting information processing speed and working memory, mediated by the pre-frontal cortex (PFC). Objective: Our study aimed to investigate PFC functioning through a task-switching protocol in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients without cognitive impairment. Methods: A total of 24 RRMS patients and 25 controls were enrolled. Two different tasks were performed in rapid and random succession, so that the task was either changed from one trial to the next one (switch trials) or repeated (repetition trials). Switch trials are usually slower than repetitions, causing a so-called switch cost (SC). Results: Patients had worse performance than controls only in the switch trials, as indicated by increased SC and reaction times. Moreover, patients showed a reduced ability to reconfigure the task-set for the execution of a new task and to disengage from the previous one. Conclusion: Our results showed a primary deficit in executive control processes involved in the task-switching performance in RRMS patients without cognitive impairment. This deficit may depend on the functional impairment of the PFC, which is essential to adjust behaviour rapidly and flexibly in response to environmental changes, representing one of the most sophisticated human abilities.

scholarly journals Regional reduction in cortical blood flow among cognitively impaired adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (11) ◽  
pp. 1421-1428 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seyed-Parsa Hojjat ◽  
Charles Grady Cantrell ◽  
Rita Vitorino ◽  
Anthony Feinstein ◽  
Zahra Shirzadi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Blood Flow ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
Temporal Cortex ◽  
Surrogate Marker ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Relapsing Remitting ◽  
Remitting Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis Patients ◽  
Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Purpose: Detection of cortical abnormalities in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) remains elusive. Structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of cortical integrity are limited, although functional techniques such as pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL) show promise as a surrogate marker of disease severity. We sought to determine the utility of pCASL to assess cortical cerebral blood flow (CBF) in RRMS patients with (RRMS-I) and without (RRMS-NI) cognitive impairment. Methods: A total of 19 age-matched healthy controls and 39 RRMS patients were prospectively recruited. Cognition was assessed using the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in Multiple Sclerosis (MACFIMS) battery. Cortical CBF was compared between groups using a mass univariate voxel-based morphometric analysis accounting for demographic and structural variable covariates. Results: Cognitive impairment was present in 51.3% of patients. Significant CBF reduction was present in the RRMS-I compared to other groups in left frontal and right superior frontal cortex. Compared to healthy controls, RRMS-I displayed reduced CBF in the frontal, limbic, parietal and temporal cortex, and putamen/thalamus. RRMS-I demonstrated reduced left superior frontal lobe cortical CBF compared to RRMS-NI. No significant cortical CBF differences were present between healthy controls and RRMS-NI. Conclusion: Significant cortical CBF reduction occurs in RRMS-I compared to healthy controls and RRMS-NI in anatomically significant regions after controlling for structural and demographic differences.

scholarly journals Contribution of Gray Matter Atrophy and White Matter Damage to Cognitive Impairment in Mildly Disabled Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 578
Author(s):  
Ángela Bernabéu-Sanz ◽  
Sandra Morales ◽  
Valery Naranjo ◽  
Ángel P. Sempere
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Cognitive Impairment ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Multiple Regression ◽  
White Matter Damage ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Relapsing Remitting ◽  
Remitting Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis Patients ◽  
Relapsing Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Cognitive impairment (CI) is frequently present in multiple sclerosis patients. Despite ongoing research, the neurological substrates have not been fully elucidated. In this study we investigated the contribution of gray and white matter in the CI observed in mildly disabled relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients. For that purpose, 30 patients with RRMS (median EDSS = 2), and 30 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were studied. CI was assessed using the symbol digit modalities test (SDMT) and the memory alteration test. Brain magnetic resonance imaging, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), voxel-based morphometry (VBM), brain segmentation, thalamic vertex analysis, and connectivity-based thalamic parcellation analyses were performed. RRMS patients scored significantly lower in both cognitive tests. In the patient group, significant atrophy in the thalami was observed. Multiple regression analyses revealed associations between SDMT scores and GM volume in both hemispheres in the temporal, parietal, frontal, and occipital lobes. The DTI results pointed to white matter damage in all thalamocortical connections, the corpus callosum, and several fasciculi. Multiple regression and correlation analyses suggested that in RRMS patients with mild disease, thalamic atrophy and thalamocortical connection damage may lead to slower cognitive processing. Furthermore, white matter damage at specific fasciculi may be related to episodic memory impairment.

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