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Depression and cognitive function in early multiple sclerosis: Multitasking is more sensitive than traditional
Lisa Glukhovsky1, Daniel Kurz2, Rachel Brandstadter3
1Department of Neurology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
Multiple Sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England)
|November 16, 2020
Summary
Depression symptoms significantly impair cognitive multitasking in early multiple sclerosis (MS), while standard tests may miss these effects. This highlights the need for targeted assessments and treatments for cognitive issues in MS patients.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) often experience cognitive difficulties in daily life.
- These real-world cognitive challenges may not be adequately captured by traditional laboratory-based cognitive tests.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between depressive symptoms and cognitive performance in monotasking versus multitasking scenarios among individuals in the early stages of MS.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 185 individuals with early MS (diagnosed within 5 years) completed mood assessments, monotasking and multitasking cognitive tests, and underwent MRI.
- Statistical analyses, including partial correlations, were used to examine the relationship between mood and cognitive function, controlling for relevant covariates like age, sex, IQ, and brain lesion volume.
Main Results:
- Depressive symptoms showed a stronger correlation with impaired cognitive multitasking (r=-0.353, p<0.001) compared to monotasking (r=-0.189, p=0.011).
- Cognitive efficiency composite scores were also negatively associated with depression (r=-0.281, p<0.001), but composite memory scores were not significantly related (r=-0.036, p>0.50).
- Individuals with mild or greater depression performed worse on multitasking tasks than those with minimal/no depression and healthy controls.
Conclusions:
- Depression is significantly linked to deficits in cognitive multitasking abilities in early MS.
- Standard cognitive assessments focusing on monotasking may be less sensitive to the cognitive impact of depression in MS.
- Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms and directionality of this relationship to improve treatment strategies for cognitive dysfunction and depression in MS.
