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Reaction time and rapid serial processing measures of information processing speed in multiple sclerosis: complexity,

Abbey J Hughes¹, Douglas R Denney, Sharon G Lynch

¹Department of Psychology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, USA.

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society : JINS

|November 2, 2011

Summary

Rapid serial processing (RSP) measures, particularly the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), are more effective than reaction time (RT) tests for distinguishing multiple sclerosis (MS) patients from healthy individuals.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Psychology
Clinical Neurology

Background:

Information processing speed is a key cognitive function affected in multiple sclerosis (MS).
Reaction time (RT) and rapid serial processing (RSP) are common measures used to assess processing speed deficits in MS.
The relative efficacy of RT versus RSP measures in differentiating MS patients from controls requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

To compare the effectiveness of reaction time (RT) and rapid serial processing (RSP) measures in distinguishing patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) from healthy controls.
To evaluate the performance of specific tests, including the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) and the Stroop Test, in identifying MS-related processing speed impairments.

Main Methods:

The study included 42 patients with MS and 40 healthy controls.
Information processing speed was assessed using both RT measures (simple, choice, semantic) and RSP measures (SDMT, Stroop Test).
Binary logistic regression analyses were employed to compare the discriminative power of the different measures.

Main Results:

Significant differences in information processing speed were observed between MS patients and controls across all tested measures.
RSP measures demonstrated slightly larger effect sizes than RT measures in differentiating the groups.
The SDMT showed a greater ability to distinguish MS patients from controls compared to the Stroop Test.

Conclusions:

Rapid serial processing (RSP) measures, especially the SDMT, are superior to reaction time (RT) measures for detecting cognitive processing deficits in multiple sclerosis (MS).
Findings highlight the importance of considering test complexity, compounding, and augmentation effects when selecting processing speed measures for MS assessment.