Heterogeneity of aerobic fitness changes with exercise training in progressive multiple sclerosis: Secondary, exploratory analysis of data from the CogEx trial.

Background: There is heterogeneity of aerobic fitness (VO) changes with a standardized exercise training stimulus in the general population (i.e. some participants demonstrate improvements, others no change, and some a reduction in VO).

Speed of processing training to improve cognition in moderate to severe TBI: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: Moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) often results in cognitive deficits. Processing speed (PS) deficits are common, exerting a significant impact on daily life. Few studies have examined the efficacy of cognitive rehabilitation specifically for PS deficits in moderate to severe TBI.

Verbal Learning and Memory Deficits across Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Insights from an ENIGMA Mega Analysis.

Deficits in memory performance have been linked to a wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatric conditions. While many studies have assessed the memory impacts of individual conditions, this study considers a broader perspective by evaluating how memory recall is differentially associated with nine common neuropsychiatric conditions using data drawn from 55 international studies, aggregating 15,883 unique participants aged 15-90. The effects of dementia, mild cognitive impairment, Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, stroke, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder on immediate, short-, and long-delay verbal learning and memory (VLM) scores were estimated relative to matched healthy individuals.

Rationale and methodology for examining the combination of aerobic exercise and cognitive rehabilitation on new learning and memory in persons with multiple sclerosis and mobility disability: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: This paper describes the protocol for a Phase I/II, parallel-group, single-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT). The RCT investigates the combined effects of 12-weeks of aerobic exercise training (AET) integrated with virtual reality (VR) and cognitive rehabilitation (CR) on new learning and memory in 78 persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have mobility disability and objective impairments in learning and memory.

Methods: Participants will undergo baseline assessments consisting of neuropsychological testing, neuroimaging, self-report questionnaires, and cardiorespiratory fitness.

Effect of methylphenidate on oculomotor function in individuals with multiple sclerosis: a pilot randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Introduction: Individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently experience visual and oculomotor symptoms that may impact and confound neuropsychological assessments of information processing speed (IPS). In this study, we examined the effect of the psychostimulant methylphenidate on oculomotor function and the association between change in oculomotor speed and change in information processing speed.

Methods: We used a repeated measures crossover design in which a sample of 11 participants with MS were randomly assigned to one of two treatment arms: one that received methylphenidate for 4 weeks and another that received a placebo for 4 weeks.

Cognitive rehabilitation and aerobic exercise for cognitive impairment in people with progressive multiple sclerosis (CogEx): a randomised, blinded, sham-controlled trial.

Background: Cognitive dysfunction in people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis can improve with cognitive rehabilitation or exercise. Similar effects have not been clearly shown in people with progressive multiple sclerosis. We aimed to investigate the individual and synergistic effects of cognitive rehabilitation and exercise in patients with progressive multiple sclerosis.

The effects of cognitive rehabilitation combined with aerobic exercise or stretching-and-toning on new learning and memory in persons with moderate-to-severe TBI: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

This paper describes the protocol for a Phase I/II, parallel-group, blinded randomized controlled trial that compares the effects of 12-weeks of combined learning and memory rehabilitation with either aerobic cycling exercise or stretching on cognitive, neuroimaging, and everyday life outcomes in 60 persons with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) who demonstrate impairments in new learning. Briefly, participants will undergo baseline testing consisting of neuropsychological testing, neuroimaging, daily life measures, and cardiorespiratory fitness. Following baseline testing, participants will be randomized to one of 2 conditions (30 participants per condition) using concealed allocation.

Multiple sclerosis is associated with differences in semantic memory structure.

Objective: Although language is often considered to be largely intact in multiple sclerosis (MS), word-finding difficulties are a common complaint. Recent work suggests that declines in language are not solely the result of motoric and cognitive slowing that is most strongly associated with MS. Network science approaches have been effectively used to examine network structure as it relates to clinical conditions, aging, and language.

An Umbrella Review of Self-Management Interventions for Health Conditions With Symptom Overlap With Traumatic Brain Injury.

Objective: To synthesize evidence for the effectiveness of self-management interventions for chronic health conditions that have symptom overlap with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in order to extract recommendations for self-management intervention in persons with TBI.

Design: An umbrella review of existing systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials or nonrandomized studies targeting self-management of chronic conditions and specific outcomes relevant to persons with TBI.

Method: A comprehensive literature search of 5 databases was conducted using PRISMA guidelines.

The influence of information processing speed on benefit from learning and memory rehabilitation in TBI: a sub-analysis of the TBI-MEM trial.

Objective: This study examined the influence of processing speed (PS) on benefit from treatment with the Kessler Foundation modified Story Memory Technique® (KF-mSMT®), a cognitive rehabilitation intervention shown to improve new learning and memory in traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Setting: Non-profit research center.

Participants: 62 participants with moderate-to-severe TBI were included, 31 assigned to the treatment group and 31 to the placebo-control group.

Traumatic brain injury as a chronic disease: insights from the United States Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Research Program.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a global health priority, associated with substantial burden. Historically conceptualised as an injury event with finite recovery, TBI is now recognised as a chronic condition that can affect multiple domains of health and function, some of which might deteriorate over time. Many people who have had a TBI remain moderately to severely disabled at 5 years, are rehospitalised up to 10 years post-injury, and have a reduced lifespan relative to the general population.

Abnormal thalamic functional connectivity correlates with cardiorespiratory fitness and physical activity in progressive multiple sclerosis.

Background: Altered thalamic volumes and resting state (RS) functional connectivity (FC) might be associated with physical activity (PA) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) in people with progressive multiple sclerosis (PMS).

Objectives: To assess thalamic structural and functional alterations and investigate their correlations with PA/CRF levels in people with PMS.

Methods: Seven-day accelerometry and cardiopulmonary exercise testing were used to assess PA/CRF levels in 91 persons with PMS.

Societal Participation of People With Traumatic Brain Injury Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A NIDILRR Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study.

Objective: To examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on societal participation in people with moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Design: Cross-sectional retrospective cohort.

Setting: National TBI Model Systems centers, United States.

Task-Based and Resting-State Cortical Functional Differences After Spinal Cord Injury: A Pilot Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study.

Brain reorganization following spinal cord injury (SCI) has been well-established using animal and human studies. Yet, much is unknown regarding functional recovery and adverse secondary outcomes after SCI. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a neuroimaging technique that offers methodological flexibility in a real-world setting.

Kessler Foundation Strategy-Based Training to Enhance Memory (KF-STEM™): Study protocol for a single site double-blind randomized, clinical trial in Multiple Sclerosis.

New learning and memory impairments are common in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and negatively impact everyday life, including occupational and social functioning. Despite the demand for learning and memory treatments, few cognitive rehabilitation protocols are supported by Class I research evidence, limiting the degree to which effective treatments may be utilized with persons with MS. The present double-blind, placebo controlled randomized clinical trial (RCT) examines the efficacy of an 8-session cognitive rehabilitation protocol encompassing training in the application of three strategies with the strongest empirical evidence (self-generation, spaced learning and retrieval practice) to treat impaired learning and memory in persons with MS, ™.

The late onset of emotional distress in people with progressive multiple sclerosis during the Covid-19 pandemic: longitudinal findings from the CogEx study.

Objective: An earlier follow-up study from the CogEx rehabilitation trial showed little change in symptoms of depression, anxiety and psychological distress during the first COVID-19 lockdown compared to pre-pandemic measurements. Here, we provide a second follow-up set of behavioral data on the CogEx sample.

Methods: This was an ancillary, longitudinal follow-up study in CogEx, a randomized controlled trial of exercise and cognitive rehabilitation in people with progressive MS involving 11 centres in North America and Europe.

The relationship between processing speed and verbal and non-verbal new learning and memory in progressive multiple sclerosis.

Objective: Processing speed (PS) deficits are the most common cognitive deficits in multiple sclerosis (MS), followed by learning and memory deficits, and are often an early cognitive problem. It has been argued that impaired PS is a primary consequence of MS, which in turn decreases learning. The current analysis examined the association between PS and learning in a large cohort of individuals with progressive MS.

Slowing processing speed is associated with cognitive fatigue in newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis patients.

Objective: To further investigate objective measures of cognitive fatigue (CF), defined as the inability to sustain performance over time, in newly diagnosed multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, by conducting a performance analysis on the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT) based on the type of errors (omissions incorrect responses) committed.

Method: Sixty-two newly diagnosed patients with MS (pwMS) and 41 healthy controls (HC) completed the PASAT. Analysis of the change in performance during the test was performed by comparing the number of correct responses, incorrect responses, and omissions in the 1 versus the 3 tertile of the PASAT.