Neurology: How does long-term cognitive and movement disorders change in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis?

Cognitive impairment affects up to 56% of patients with multiple sclerosis (pwMS)

Although traditional neuropsychological tests are specific to cognitive impairment, they cannot reliably detect cognitive changes related to multiple sclerosis in the "normal" range

However, these require testers, so due to resource constraints, they are not implemented in routine practice

Computer testing that continuously evaluates the reaction time can fill the gaps in routine monitoring

In this study, Daniel Merlo and others at Monash University in Australia used MS Reactor reaction time-based tasks to continuously assess the cognitive performance of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS)

A total of 460 patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis were included in the analysis

All MSReactor tasks can identify high-probability groups with slower reaction times

Latent-type modeling of longitudinal cognitive data collected by computerized batteries identified patients with worsening reaction time and increased risk of disability progression