Kessler Foundation scientist Silvana Costa, PhD, was awarded a $477,000 grant from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS) to explore the effects of visual, cognitive, and motor deficits on information processing speed in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Costa is an associate research scientist in neuropsychology and neuroscience research.

New research shows how a high-salt diet leads to excessive levels of interleukin-17 (IL-17) in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, causing changes in endothelial cells that result in dementia. These findings suggest that therapeutics targeting IL-17 may help halt the neurovascular damages of MS and other autoimmune diseases linked to high…

So-called silent brain lesions in patients with early-stage relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) may, in fact, not be silent at all, according to a French study that linked such lesions to cognitive decline in early MS. This link has likely been missed since the major tool for measuring disability in MS…

Patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis have more severe cognitive impairment than those with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, according to a German study that analyzed published data on the topic. PPMS patients did especially poorly on verbal learning and verbal memory tests, said the study, which suggested that PPMS patients need disease management that specifically focuses on their cognitive difficulties, which do not necessarily correlate with the degree of overall disability. The study gathered data from 47 previously published studies in an attempt to analyze potential differences in cognitive performance between patients with RRMS and PPMS. These studies included 4,460 patients — 3,456 with RRMS and 1,004 with PPMS — and plenty of information about patient and disease features. This allowed researchers to perform a meta-analysis of pooled data from various studies, that is considered the highest level of scientific evidence. Researchers noted that PPMS patients performed worse on cognitive tests, both when considering global scores and tests of specific cognitive domains. Yet both groups scored similarly in levels of anxiety, depression and fatigue. Using statistical analyses, the research team found that differences in sex, education, disease duration, manual dexterity and fatigue could not explain the poorer test results among PPMS patients. On the other hand, PPMS patients were, on average, older than those with relapsing disease, and the team found that this difference accounted for poorer test results in cognitive tests of processing speed and working memory. Yet differences in other cognitive aspects also remained when researchers took age into account. Differences in disability, measured by the Expanded Disability Status Scale, could also not explain why PPMS patients performed worse on the cognitive tests. A detailed look revealed that the largest differences between RRMS and PPMS patients were in verbal learning and verbal memory, along with the age-associated difference in processing speed. Depression and anxiety also brought down processing speed, researchers said, even though the two groups did not differ in their levels of anxiety and depression. The data shows that cognitive impairment in MS is not directly related to the course of the disease. Research may explain differences in other factors including genetics, the degree of brain tissue loss and medications.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who are showing signs of cognitive impairment may benefit from computer-assisted cognitive rehabilitation programs, according to a new study. Difficulties with short-term memory, or with processing information and concentrating, are believed to affect 40% to 65% of MS patients. Studies have suggested that cognitive rehabilitation may help, and that computer-assisted therapy used…

In a recent talk, titled “Income and cognitive impairment among multiple sclerosis patients,” scientists investigated how cognitive impairment impacts the life of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and reported significant differences in income that correlated with levels of MS-cognitive deficit. These findings were recently presented at the 32nd Congress of the European Committee for…

Brian M. Sandroff from the Kessler Foundation and Robert W. Mot with the University of Illinois will present the results of a study on the effects of exercise in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) today, Feb.18, at the Americas Committee for the Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS)…

Researchers identified a new mechanism in the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) that might explain the cognitive impairment and decline observed in these patients — a decline not directly associated with disease’s hallmarks of motor control loss, and one not currently addressed by the immunosuppressive drugs used to treat MS. The study, published…

Several studies have shown that exercise can improve movement in multiple sclerosis (MS), but new research indicates that it specifically may also  improve reaction time, a measurement of cognitive impairment. The study, titled “Acute effects of varying intensities of treadmill walking exercise on inhibitory control in persons with…

In a new study entitled “LINGO-1 antibody ameliorates myelin impairment and spatial memory deficits in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis mice”, a team of scientists report that the loss of myelin in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients’ brains contributes to their cognitive impairment. They showed that inhibiting protein LINGO-1 can…

Researchers at Spedali Civili of Brescia in Italy recently published findings in the journal PLoS One that Biogen’s Tysabri (natalizumab) can improve cognitive impairment in patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) over the course of at least three years. The study is entitled “Natalizumab Significantly…