Abstract
Background: Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) have significant impairments in processing speed (PS) and such impairments may underlie other cognitive deficits common in MS and limit performance of everyday life activities.Objective: To examine the efficacy of a computerized PS intervention, Speed of Processing Training (SPT), in persons with MS on PS, memory and everyday activities.Methods: Twenty-one individuals with clinically definite MS and an objectively assessed impairment in PS were included in a controlled randomized clinical trial, randomly assigned to a treatment group or a control group. Participants were assessed prior to and within 1 week of completing the treatment. Outcome measures included traditional neuropsychological tests measuring PS and memory, and an assessment of PS in daily life activities.Results: The treatment group showed a significant improvement on neuropsychological tests of PS and new learning and memory. A significant improvement was additionally noted in the treatment group on measures of PS in everyday life. These changes were not observed in the control group.Conclusions: Results provide preliminary data in support of SPT in treating PS deficits in persons with MS. Additional research is needed with larger samples and more comprehensive outcome measures.
Highlights
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common nontraumatic neurological illness in young and middle-aged adults [1]
The trial ended with completion of external funding. 21 participants with clinically definite MS were randomly assigned to TX (n = 12) or CTL (n = 9), with no dropout
Changes on Neuropsychological Tasks of Processing speed (PS) Significant improvement was noted from pre- to post-treatment on the primary outcome, the WAIS-III Coding Subtest, in the treatment group only
Summary
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common nontraumatic neurological illness in young and middle-aged adults [1]. Processing speed (PS) is widely recognized as the single greatest cognitive deficit in MS [2, 3]. PS affects all cognitive domains and tends to be correlated with verbal abilities [4], working memory (WM) [5] and new learning and memory (NLM) [6, 7]. PS has been shown to correlate with new learning abilities in persons with MS [8]. Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) have significant impairments in processing speed (PS) and such impairments may underlie other cognitive deficits common in MS and limit performance of everyday life activities
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