Cognitive impairment in Multiple Sclerosis: Statistical and neurophysiological aspects

In this thesis, conducted jointly at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and l’Université de Mons (UMONS) under an FWO doctoral fellowship (aspirant mandaat), we have examined cognitive impairment and deterioration in multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is the most commonly encountered neurodegenerative disease in young adults, affecting 1 out of 1000 and leading to both physical and cognitive impairment. In this thesis, we have analysed data collected at the neuropsychological department at the National MS Center Melsbroek and have answered the following neuropsychological questions: 1. Can we discern a pattern of cognitive decline in MS ? 2. How well does the Symbol Digit Modalities Test predict general cognitive impairment? 3. What is the relative importance of cognitive and physical impairment to a patient’s self-perceived quality of life ? Furthermore, we have assessed the value of EEG P300 data in detecting cognitive impairment. Being able to assess cognitive functioning without the patient performing a complex task (like neuropsychological tests) would eliminate practice effects and allow a more objective assessment of cognitive impairment. For this part, we calculated brain networks based on EEG data and calculated several network parameters.