Word finding, prosody and social cognition in multiple sclerosis

Siew Mei Yap; Laura Davenport; Clodagh Cogley; Fiona Craddock; Alex Kennedy; Maria Gaughan; Hugh Kearney; Niall Tubridy; Céline De Looze; Fiadhnait O'Keeffe; Richard B Reilly; Christopher McGuigan

doi:10.1111/jnp.12285

Word finding, prosody and social cognition in multiple sclerosis

J Neuropsychol. 2023 Mar;17(1):32-62. doi: 10.1111/jnp.12285. Epub 2022 Jul 12.

Authors

Siew Mei Yap^{1

2}, Laura Davenport³, Clodagh Cogley^{3

4}, Fiona Craddock³, Alex Kennedy⁵, Maria Gaughan^{1

2}, Hugh Kearney¹, Niall Tubridy^{1

2}, Céline De Looze⁵, Fiadhnait O'Keeffe^{3

4}, Richard B Reilly^{5

6

7}, Christopher McGuigan^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurology, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin 4, Ireland.
² School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
³ Neuropsychology Service, Department of Psychology, St. Vincent's University Hospital, Dublin 4, Ireland.
⁴ School of Psychology, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
⁵ Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
⁶ School of Medicine, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.
⁷ School of Engineering, Trinity College, The University of Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland.

PMID: 35822290
DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12285

Abstract

Background: Impairments in speech and social cognition have been reported in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), although their relationships with neuropsychological outcomes and their clinical utility in MS are unclear.

Objectives: To evaluate word finding, prosody and social cognition in pwMS relative to healthy controls (HC).

Methods: We recruited people with relapsing MS (RMS, n = 21), progressive MS (PMS, n = 24) and HC (n = 25) from an outpatient MS clinic. Participants completed a battery of word-finding, social cognitive, neuropsychological and clinical assessments and performed a speech task for prosodic analysis.

Results: Of 45 pwMS, mean (SD) age was 49.4 (9.4) years, and median (range) Expanded Disability Severity Scale score was 3.5 (1.0-6.5). Compared with HC, pwMS were older and had slower information processing speed (measured with the Symbol Digit Modalities Test, SDMT) and higher depression scores. Most speech and social cognitive measures were associated with information processing speed but not with depression. Unlike speech, social cognition consistently correlated with intelligence and memory. Visual naming test mean response time (VNT-MRT) demonstrated worse outcomes in MS versus HC (p = .034, Nagelkerke's R² = 65.0%), and in PMS versus RMS (p = .009, Nagelkerke's R² = 50.2%). Rapid automatised object naming demonstrated worse outcomes in MS versus HC (p = .014, Nagelkerke's R² = 49.1%). These word-finding measures showed larger effect sizes than that of the SDMT (MS vs. HC, p = .010, Nagelkerke's R² = 40.6%; PMS vs. RMS, p = .023, Nagelkerke's R² = 43.5%). Prosody and social cognition did not differ between MS and HC.

Conclusions: Word finding, prosody and social cognition in MS are associated with information processing speed and largely independent of mood. Impairment in visual object meaning perception is potentially a unique MS disease-related deficit that could be further explored and cautiously considered as an adjunct disability metric for MS.

Keywords: disability biomarker; multiple sclerosis; prosody; social cognition; word finding.

MeSH terms

Cognition
Cognition Disorders* / complications
Humans
Middle Aged
Multiple Sclerosis* / complications
Multiple Sclerosis* / psychology
Neuropsychological Tests
Social Cognition