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PSU
Sports Concussion Neuropsychology Program |
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PSU
Neuropsychology of MS Program |
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research interests |
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students/training | |
select publications | |
lab pictures |
| Influence of Oral Motor Speed on Cognitive Test Performance in MS | ||
| Besides depression,
there are other secondary (i.e., non-cognitive) influences that may
impact cognitive test performance in MS. In a recently completed study
in my lab, funded by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS),
we explored another non-cognitive factor that may interfere with performance
on neuropsychological tests in MS—impaired oral motor speed.
If patients’ difficulty with information processing speed tasks
turns out to be primarily a function of lower level oral motor speed
problems, it could have significant consequences for our understanding
of the nature of cognitive dysfunction in MS and the way in which
we measure cognitive deficits in MS patients neuropsychologically.
In a preliminary study of this issue based upon data collected before
we completed the NMSS study, we found evidence to support our conceptualization
of the influence of oral motor speed on neuropsychological test performance
in MS. This study is currently “in press” at JCEN. The
senior author on the paper is Megan Smith, M.S., a graduate student
in my lab who is currently on internship at Brown University School
of Medicine. The reference for this article is as follows and a pre-print
of the article can be obtained from me by request: Smith, M.M., & Arnett, P.A. (in press) - Dysarthria Predicts Poorer Performance on Cognitive Tasks Requiring a Speeded Oral Response in an MS Population. Journal of Clinical & Experimental Neuropsychology. |
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