Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2016 Oct 18;87(16):1727-1736.
doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000003236. Epub 2016 Sep 21.

Social cognition in multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Jack Cotter  1 , Joseph Firth  2 , Christian Enzinger  2 , Evangelos Kontopantelis  2 , Alison R Yung  2 , Rebecca Elliott  2 , Richard J Drake  2
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Social cognition in multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Jack Cotter et al. Neurology. .

Abstract

Objective: To quantify the magnitude of deficits in theory of mind (ToM) and facial emotion recognition among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) relative to healthy controls.

Methods: An electronic database search of Ovid MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Embase was conducted from inception to April 1, 2016. Eligible studies were original research articles published in peer-reviewed journals that examined ToM or facial emotion recognition among patients with a diagnosis of MS and a healthy control comparison group. Data were independently extracted by 2 authors. Effect sizes were calculated using Hedges g.

Results: Twenty-one eligible studies were identified assessing ToM (12 studies) and/or facial emotion recognition (13 studies) among 722 patients with MS and 635 controls. Deficits in both ToM (g = -0.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.88 to -0.55, p < 0.001) and facial emotion recognition (g = -0.64, 95% CI -0.81 to -0.47, p < 0.001) were identified among patients with MS relative to healthy controls. The largest deficits were observed for visual ToM tasks and for the recognition of negative facial emotional expressions. Older age predicted larger emotion recognition deficits. Other cognitive domains were inconsistently associated with social cognitive performance.

Conclusions: Social cognitive deficits are an overlooked but potentially important aspect of cognitive impairment in MS with potential prognostic significance for social functioning and quality of life. Further research is required to clarify the longitudinal course of social cognitive dysfunction, its association with MS disease characteristics and neurocognitive impairment, and the MS-specific neurologic damage underlying these deficits.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses flow diagram
Figure 2
Figure 2. Forest plot of theory of mind in patients with MS vs healthy controls
CI = confidence interval; MS = multiple sclerosis.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Forest plot of facial emotion recognition in patients with MS vs healthy controls
CI = confidence interval; MS = multiple sclerosis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Langdon DW. Cognition in multiple sclerosis. Curr Opin Neurol 2011;24:244–249. - PubMed
    1. Prakash RS, Snook EM, Lewis JM, Motl RW, Kramer AF. Cognitive impairments in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a meta-analysis. Mult Scler 2008;14:1250–1261. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ruet A, Deloire M, Charré-Morin J, Hamel D, Brochet B. Cognitive impairment differs between primary progressive and relapsing-remitting MS. Neurology 2013;80:1501–1508. - PubMed
    1. Chiaravalloti ND, DeLuca J. Cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis. Lancet Neurol 2008;7:1139–1151. - PubMed
    1. Green MF, Penn DL, Bentall R, et al. . Social cognition in schizophrenia: an NIMH workshop on definitions, assessment, and research opportunities. Schizophr Bull 2008;34:1211–1220. - PMC - PubMed