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
. 2025 Apr 8;15(1):11978.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-96181-6.

The influence of information processing speed on memory processes in patients with relapsing-remitting and primary progressive multiple sclerosis

Carolin Balloff  1   2   3   4 , Sven G Meuth  5 , Heinz Wiendl  6 , Andreas Johnen  7 , Jens Bölte  8 , Iris-Katharina Penner  9   10 , Nils C Landmeyer  11
Affiliations

The influence of information processing speed on memory processes in patients with relapsing-remitting and primary progressive multiple sclerosis

Carolin Balloff et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

Slowed information processing speed (IPS) is the primary cognitive impairment in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). Although it is known to affect memory processes, the relationships between verbal learning (VL), verbal memory (VM) and IPS in different phenotypes of multiple sclerosis (MS) remain underexplored. This bicentric study aimed to investigate in detail IPS, VL, and VM as well as the relationships between these cognitive domains in a large sample of 92 pwMS (61 with early relapsing-remitting MS (pwRRMS), 31 with primary-progressive MS (pwPPMS)) and 61 age-matched healthy controls (HC). Compared with HC, pwPPMS performed significantly worse on all cognitive measures, whereas pwRRMS performed worse than HC only on IPS and VL. Irrespective of phenotype, IPS impairment emerged as the core cognitive deficit in MS, affecting 25% of the RRMS group and 45% of the PPMS group. PwRRMS outperformed pwPPMS in all domains, with the most pronounced differences observed in VL. Isolated VL or VM impairments were rare, as most pwMS with these deficits also had concurrent IPS impairment. PwPPMS had significantly higher rates of IPS and VL impairment than pwRRMS, but not in VM. Regression analyses showed that IPS significantly predicted both VL and VM performance in both MS groups. In HC, IPS was only associated with VL performance, hinting at different cognitive mechanisms underlying the performance in this domain. This study provides evidence that pwPPMS experience more pronounced cognitive changes in IPS and VL compared to pwRRMS. It also highlights the pervasive impact of IPS on VL and VM performance in both subtypes, underscoring the importance of IPS-focused interventions in the management of MS-related cognitive dysfunction.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Competing interests: CB has received research funding from the German MS Society (DMSG), speaker honoraria and travel expenses from Roche, and speaker honoraria from Synaptikon GmbH unrelated to this work. SGM has received honoraria for lecturing and travel expenses for attending meetings from Almirall, Amicus Therapeutics Germany, Bayer Health Care, Biogen, Celgene, Diamed, Genzyme, MedDay Pharmaceuticals, Merck Serono, Novartis, Novo Nordisk, ONO Pharma, Roche, SanofiAventis, Chugai Pharma, QuintilesIMS and Teva, and research funding from the German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Else Kröner Fresenius Foundation, the German Academic Exchange Service, the Hertie Foundation, the Interdisciplinary Center for Clinical Studies (IZKF) Muenster, the German Foundation for Neurology, Almirall, Amicus Therapeutics, Germany, Biogen, Diamed, Fresenius Medical Care, Genzyme, Merck Serono, Novartis, ONO Pharma, Roche and Teva unrelated to this work. HW receives honoraria for acting as a member of Scientific Advisory Boards from Alexion, Argenx, Biocryst, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cellerys, Galapagos, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Sandoz-Hexal, uniQure biopharma B.V. Speaker honoraria and travel support from Alexion, AOCN, CEMCAT, AstraZeneca, Biogen, BGP Products Operations GmbH, Bristol Myers Squibb, EPG Health/Medthority, Genzyme, Kohlhammer, Merck, MS at the Limits, Neurodiem, NMSS, Novartis, Ology, Roche, Sanofi, Springer, Streamed up, TEVA, Uvet, WebMD Global. Prof. Wiendl is acting as a paid consultant for Alexion, Argenx, Argobio, Bristol Myers Squibb, Dianthus, EMD Serono, Fondazione Cariplo, Idorsia, Immunic, Immunovant, INmune Bio_Syneos Health, Janssen, LTS, Lundbeck, Merck, Muna Therapeutics, Myrobalan Therapeutics, Novartis, PSL Group, Red Nucleus, Roche, Samsung, Sangamo, Sanofi, Swiss Multiple Sclerosis Society, Teladochealth, Toleranzia, UCB, Viatris. His research is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), Deutsche Myasthenie Gesellschaft e.V., European Union, Alexion, Amicus Therapeutics Inc., Argenx, Biogen, CSL Behring, F. Hoffmann - La Roche, Genzyme, Merck KgaA, Novartis, Roche, UCB Biopharma all unrelated to this work.AJ has nothing to declare.JB has nothing to declare.I-KP received honoraria for speaking at scientific meetings, serving at scientific advisory boards, and consulting activities from Almirall, Biogen, BMS, Celgene, Sanofi-Genzyme, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Roche, and Teva unrelated to this work. She received research support from the German MS Society, Celgene, Novartis, Roche, and Teva unrelated to this work. NCL has nothing to declare.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
(A) Subgroup specific rates in information processing speed (IPS), verbal learning (VL) and verbal memory (VM). Impairment is defined as a z-score of 1.645 or more standard deviations below the mean of test-specific normative data. (B) Overview of the nature of cognitive dysfunction for all cognitively impaired pwRRMS (n = 18) and pwPPMS (n = 17).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Matias-Guiu, J. A. et al. Functional components of cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis: A Cross-Sectional investigation. Front. Neurol.8, 1–9. 10.3389/fneur.2017.00643 (2017). - PMC - PubMed
    1. DiGiuseppe, G., Blair, M., Morrow, S. A. & Short Report Prevalence of cognitive impairment in newly diagnosed Relapsing-Remitting multiple sclerosis. Int. J. MS Care. 20, 153–157. 10.7224/1537-2073.2017-029 (2018). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Benedict, R. H. B., Amato, M. P., Deluca, J. & Geurts, J. J. G. Cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis: clinical management, MRI, and therapeutic avenues. Lancet Neurol.19, 860–871. 10.1016/S1474-4422(20)30277-5 (2020). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wojcik, C. et al. Staging and stratifying cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler.28, 463–471. 10.1177/13524585211011390 (2022). - PubMed
    1. Deluca, J., Chelune, G. J., Tulsky, D. S., Lengenfelder, J. & Chiaravalloti, N. D. Is speed of processing or working memory the primary information processing deficit in multiple sclerosis? J. Clin. Exp. Neuropsychol.26, 550–562. 10.1080/13803390490496641 (2004). - PubMed