Development and initial validation of the Cognitive Change Scale (CCS).

Background: Cognitive impairment is common in neurologic diseases. Precise measurement of cognitive change over time is necessary for isolating disease-related patterns from normal age-related decline. Existing measures of subjective cognition, however, focus on present status.

Feasibility trial of a telehealth support group intervention to reduce anxiety in multiple sclerosis.

Objective: Anxiety is common among persons with MS (PwMS), but widely accepted treatments are lacking. Group-based interventions delivered via telehealth are an accessible treatment option requiring clinical trial evidence to support feasibility and initial efficacy. We conducted a pilot feasibility trial of an online support group intervention to reduce anxiety in PwMS.

Association of personality traits with physical function, cognition, and mood in multiple sclerosis.

Background: Growing literature supports the hypothesis that personality influences health outcomes. Few studies have examined the association between personality traits and key clinical manifestations in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS).

Objective: To investigate whether personality traits are associated with physical function, cognition, and depression in persons with MS.

It's time to talk about disclosure and concealment in MS.

Deciding when and if to disclose a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) is complicated and highly stressful for individuals who are already facing many challenges. To date, few research studies have explored specific ways in which this challenge affects people with MS. From a cognitive neuroscience standpoint, the brain is a limited capacity system whereby any allocation of resources has a consequence for overall brain efficiency.

Diagnosis concealment is associated with psychosocial outcomes in persons with multiple sclerosis.

Persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) frequently conceal their diagnosis, fearing professional and personal repercussions of disclosing. Associations of concealment behavior and expected consequences of disclosure with psychosocial outcomes were examined in 90 pwMS who completed validated self-report measures of diagnosis concealment, loneliness, social support, and self-efficacy. More frequent concealment was related to worse loneliness ( = 0.

Assessing diagnosis disclosure and concealment in multiple sclerosis: Development and initial validation of the DISCO-MS survey.

Background: Individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) regularly report making strategic decisions about whether to share their diagnosis or keep it a secret; for many, this represents a key stressor. Surprisingly, the impact of disclosure and concealment are understudied in MS and a formal measurement instrument is lacking. We developed the Diagnosis Disclosure and Concealment in MS (DISCO-MS) survey, a self-assessment tool evaluating (1) frequency of concealment behaviors and (2) expected consequences of diagnosis disclosure in persons with MS.

When the body matches the picture: The influence of physiological arousal on subjective familiarity of novel stimuli.

Numerous studies show that bodily states shape affect and cognition. Here, we investigated whether incidental physiological arousal impacted perceived familiarity for novel images depicting real-world scenes. Participants provided familiarity ratings for a series of high- and low-arousal emotional images, once after a cycling session (to increase heart rate) and once after a relaxation session (to reduce heart rate).

Associations of social network structure with cognition and amygdala volume in multiple sclerosis: An exploratory investigation.

Background: Humans are inherently social, biologically programmed to connect with others. Social connections are known to impact mental and physical health.

Objective: The aim of this study was to test whether social network structure is linked to cognition, mood, fatigue, and regional brain volumes in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Social support is linked to mental health, quality of life, and motor function in multiple sclerosis.

Objective: To investigate associations of social support to psychological well-being, cognition, and motor functioning in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Secondarily, we were interested in exploring sex differences in these relationships, based on a bioevolutionary theoretical justification.

Methods: Social support was assessed in 185 recently diagnosed patients (RADIEMS cohort), and in an independent validation sample (MEMCONNECT cohort, n = 62).

ASPIRE trial: study protocol for a double-blind randomised controlled trial of aspirin for overheating during exercise in multiple sclerosis.

Introduction: The many benefits of exercise for persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) are well established, yet patients often refrain from exercise due to overheating and exhaustion. The present randomised controlled trial tests aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid (ASA)) as a convenient method to prevent overheating and improve exercise performance in persons with MS. The effects of ASA are compared with those of acetaminophen (APAP) and placebo.

"Passion" versus "patience": the effects of valence and arousal on constructive word recognition.

Accumulating evidence suggests that emotional information is often recognised faster than neutral information. Several studies examined the effects of valence and arousal on word recognition, but yielded partially diverging results. Here, we used two alternative versions of a constructive recognition paradigm in which a target word is hidden by a visual mask that gradually disappears, to investigate whether the emotional properties of words influence their speed of recognition.

Congruent bodily arousal promotes the constructive recognition of emotional words.

Considerable research has shown that bodily states shape affect and cognition. Here, we examined whether transient states of bodily arousal influence the categorization speed of high arousal, low arousal, and neutral words. Participants realized two blocks of a constructive recognition task, once after a cycling session (increased arousal), and once after a relaxation session (reduced arousal).

The body language: The spontaneous influence of congruent bodily arousal on the awareness of emotional words.

Nowadays, the idea of a reciprocal influence of physiological and psychological processes seems to be widely accepted. For instance, current theories of embodied emotion suggest that knowledge about an emotion concept involves simulations of bodily experienced emotional states relevant to the concept. In line with this framework, the present study investigated whether actual levels of physiological arousal interact with the processing of emotional words.