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Multiple Sclerosis is a nervous system disease that results in both cognitive impairment as well as physical impairment.  It is well known as a demylinator of axonal nerves. Typically physical impairment is more often observed.  Cognitive impairment exhibits itself due to the demyelination of white matter but also axonal damage and grey matter damage as well.  The disease leads to impaired decision making, loss of employment, driving abilities, and social functioning.  Difficulty with complex attention, information processing speed, memory retrieval, verbal fluency, visospatial memory, and working memory as well.  As of now there is no standardized way to measure cognitive impairment but some groups of neurologists are starting to address this issue.  The physical impairment that occurs as a result of MS can be directly correlated to changes in brain activity as measured by an MRI.  However the cognitive functioning is not so closely correlated with this brain sclera.   It is predicted that the networks that handle working memory (a functionally interconnected group of brain regions that work together) may be interrupted or even severed due to the damage of brain white matter.  There has been some measured evidence of axonal remapping and repaired cognitive functioning in patients with MS as well. Read the rest of this entry →