Cognitive impairment and neurophysiological correlates in MS

Cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) has received considerable interest over the last decades. Heterogeneous patterns of cognitive dysfunction have been reported in literature in relation to the subtype of the disease and the severity of specific cognitive domains affected. Event related potentials (ERPs), especially P300, have been employed to evaluate the cognitive decline in MS and neurophysiological findings agree with data obtained by neuropsychological testing. The objectivity, the reliability and the easy administration are the main features of ERP technique but more specific attention and memory tasks are needed to enhance the clinical value of the methodology. Moreover, ERP recording has the advantage of being feasible even in severe disabled patients. Finally, longitudinal ERP studies are required to investigate the natural course of cognitive dysfunction in MS, to estimate the prognostic value of subclinical defects in different clinical form of the disease and to evaluate clinical benefits of therapeutic and rehabilitative interventions.