Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Symposium 12

Cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis

Masaaki Niino, M.D., Ph.D.1)

1)Department of Clinical Research, Hokkaido Medical Center

The various lesions affecting the central nervous system in multiple sclerosis (MS) lead to a wide range of symptoms. Until now, physical disabilities have been the main focus of studies on the symptoms of MS; however, cognitive impairment that prominently affects sustained attention and information processing speed has been found by neuropsychological studies to affect over half of all MS patients. Because this cognitive impairment typically involves domain-specific deficits rather than global cognitive decline, it is usually difficult to detect. Cognitive dysfunction in MS patients could influence social activities, such as employment status. Therefore, we must pay greater attention to cognitive function in the milieu of clinical neurology.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (225K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 54: 1058|1059, 2014)
key words: multiple sclerosis, cognitive function, Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests, MRI

(Received: 22-May-14)