Assessing multimodal emotion recognition in multiple sclerosis with a clinically accessible measure.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) negatively impacts cognition and has been associated with deficits in social cognition, including emotion recognition. There is a lack of research examining emotion recognition from multiple modalities in MS. The present study aimed to employ a clinically available measure to assess multimodal emotion recognition abilities among individuals with MS. METHOD: Thirty-one people with MS and 21 control participants completed the Advanced Clinical Solutions Social Perceptions Subtest (ACS-SP), BICAMS, and measures of premorbid functioning, mood, and fatigue. ANCOVAs examined group differences in all outcomes while controlling for education. Correlational analyses examined potential correlates of emotion recognition in both groups. RESULTS: The MS group performed significantly worse on the ACS-SP than the control group, F(1, 49) = 5.32, p = .025. Significant relationships between emotion recognition and cognitive functions were found only in the MS group, namely for information processing speed (r = 0.59, p < .001), verbal learning (r = 0.52, p = .003) and memory (r = 0.65, p < 0.001), and visuospatial learning (r = 0.62, p < 0.001) and memory (r = 0.52, p = .003). Emotion recognition did not correlate with premorbid functioning, mood, or fatigue in either group. CONCLUSIONS: This study was the first to employ the ACS-SP to assess emotion recognition in MS. The results suggest that emotion recognition is impacted in MS and is related to other cognitive processes, such as information processing speed. The results provide information for clinicians amidst calls to include social cognition measures in standard MS assessments.

The relationship between neurofilament light chain and cognition in neurological disorders: A scoping review.

Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is an emerging biomarker of neural degeneration. NfL is an integral component of axons and is released into the bloodstream and cerebrospinal fluid during neurodegeneration; hence it can be used to monitor disease progression. Given that several neurological disorders are accompanied by cognitive decline, recent literature has investigated the relationship between NfL levels and cognition. The objective of this scoping review was to determine whether a consistent relationship between NfL and cognition exists in the context of variable degrees of neurodegeneration present across several neurological disorders. Four electronic databases were searched for relevant articles and 160 articles were initially identified. After article screening, 37 studies met the final inclusion criteria. Studies were then qualitatively synthesized to determine the relationship between NfL and cognition across a variety of neurological disorders. The large majority of studies found that NfL levels are inversely correlated with cognition, such that higher NfL levels are associated with poorer cognition. This relationship was not universal, however, and this discrepancy was speculated to be due to the nature of the neurological disorder, individual differences between participants, or methodological inconsistencies. Further study is required, and associated recommendations were proposed for the design of future investigations.