Cognitive performance and MR markers of cerebral injury in cognitively impaired MS patients

Abstract

If a strong and stable association can be firmly established between cognitive and MR variables in appropriate subsets of MS patients, it might aid in the investigation of interventions to enhance cognition and modify the course of the disease.

Identification and Clinical Impact of Multiple Sclerosis Cortical Lesions as Assessed by Routine 3T MR Imaging

“…39 The PASAT also measures information-processing speed and working memory; however, compared with SDMT, lower accuracy and sensitivity have been found in predicting cognitive deficits in MS, 39 and weaker correlations with MR imaging metrics have been previously reported. [40][41][42] Our findings suggesting the importance of cortical lesions with regard to CVLT-II are in line with previous studies showing associations between gray matter atrophy and verbal learning. 43,44 The absence of a significant correlation between cortical lesions and other cognitive tests (BVMT-R, COWAT, JLO, and D-KEFS) may be related to their lower sensitivity in showing associations with distributed multiple lesions [39][40][41]45 ; however, regional cortical lesions were not assessed in our study.…”

“…[40][41][42] Our findings suggesting the importance of cortical lesions with regard to CVLT-II are in line with previous studies showing associations between gray matter atrophy and verbal learning. 43,44 The absence of a significant correlation between cortical lesions and other cognitive tests (BVMT-R, COWAT, JLO, and D-KEFS) may be related to their lower sensitivity in showing associations with distributed multiple lesions [39][40][41]45 ; however, regional cortical lesions were not assessed in our study. Other factors may have contributed to our failure to find significant correlations across the spectrum of cognitive domains commonly affected in MS: The small sample size and the high proportion of patients with RRMS compared with SPMS may have limited the severity of the deficits observed.…”

Neuropsychological Impairment in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: A Comparison with Multiple Sclerosis

“…Other cognitive impairments have been described, involving such domains as spatial processing (Vleugels et al 2000), verbal fluency (Beatty 2002), and higher executive function (Arnett et al 1997;Beatty et al 1995;Beatty and Monson 1996;Foong et al 1997). Neuropsychological defects are associated with progressive more than relapsing disease course (Beatty et al 1988) and MRI evidence of lesion burden and brain atrophy (Amato et al 2004;Benedict et al 2002aBenedict et al , 2004aChristodoulou et al 2003;Rao et al 1989a). Abnormal neuropsychological testing also predicts failures in activities of daily living such as automobile driving (Schultheis et al 2001(Schultheis et al , 2002, employment Rao et al 1991b), success in rehabilitation (Langdon and Thompson 1999), and social skills (Arnett et al 1994;Benedict et al 2001;Knight et al 1997).…”

MRI in Multiple Sclerosis: What’s Inside the Toolbox?

“…Such measures show relatively stronger correlations with clinical measures of disability (i.e., cognitive dysfunction and physical disability) than do conventional MRI measures. [71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78] Longitudinal studies suggest that MRS measures hold promise in predicting the development of disability. [71][72] MRS is just beginning to be applied to the study of the spinal cord in patients with MS (e.g., see section on "Spinal cord imaging" as follows for details).…”