Information Processing in Multiple Sclerosis: Accuracy versus Speed

Previous research has suggested that slowed speed of information processing is the primary cognitive impairment that occurs in multiple sclerosis (MS). The proposed study employed multiple cognitive measures to replicate these findings. Individuals with relapsing-remitting or secondary-progressive MS were compared to healthy controls in their performance on five cognitive measures. Three tests were covertly-timed and two were explicitly-timed to assess the impact of timing awareness on performance. It was hypothesized that MS patients would respond more slowly than controls and that accuracy of performance between the two groups would not differ. Results indicated that MS patients answered with significantly greater latency than controls. Accuracy of responding was similar between the groups on two of three measures. Overall, slowed information processing in MS patients was found across a range of cognitive measures. Combined with previous research, these findings suggest slowed information processing speed is a significant cognitive deficit in MS