Neural network changes in cognitive impairment in MS v1
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding network level changes in multiple sclerosis (MS): relationships with cognitive dysfunction.
IRAS ID
240768
Contact name
Nils Muhlert
Contact email
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
researchregistry3573, Research Registry; 1917064, Research Councils UK Gateway to Research
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 7 months, 1 days
Research summary
Cognitive impairment, worsening in memory and thinking processes, affects about half of people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Currently it is not well understood what causes cognitive impairment or why some people with MS get it and others don’t. We know that many of the symptoms of MS are caused by lesions, injury to the brain that results from attacks by the immune system, but cognitive impairment is often present early in the disease, before much injury to the brain has occurred. It is therefore likely that there are other changes in the brain linked to cognitive impairment, and understanding what they are will be important for developing ways to treat this aspect of MS.
Our aim in this project is therefore to find out what changes happen in the brain in people with MS with cognitive symptoms who have been diagnosed with MS in the last 5 years. This project needs both people with and people without MS to allow us to find these differences.
All participants will attend a testing session in which they will complete a number of questionnaires to determine cognitive function and any relevant medical history. MS patients will also attend a second testing session, within six months of the first, and undergo MRI scanning. Both sessions will be approximately two hours in length. Healthy volunteers will attend the first session at the University of Manchester, and patients with MS will have the option to attend the first testing session at either Salford Royal Hospital or Royal Hallamshire hospital, depending on their regular site of care.
The expected duration of the study is three years, but each individual patient will have completed the study after attending the first session (healthy controls) or both testing sessions (MS patients).
REC name
North West - Greater Manchester Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/NW/0349
Date of REC Opinion
24 May 2018
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion