Impairment in thinking or memory is frequently present in multiple sclerosis but there are difficulties finding changes on the Brain MRI that correlate with impairment in thinking and memory. This occurs because standard MRI is good for detecting some but not all abnormalities in the brain. Those lesions that we do see in the brain on standard MRI do not correlate with memory impairment or the source of disability in most RRMS patients. This occurs because RRMS symptoms mainly result from parts of the brain which have been hard to evaluate with MRI until now.
To gain more insight into the source of memory impairment, we plan to explore differences in brain volume that may be present in RRMS patients without thinking or memory problems compared with those who are impaired. A secondary objective will be to compare RRMS patients in general with healthy controls.
A new MRI technique called NeuroQuant which reliably defines the volume of those parts of the brain that are important for memory and thinking will be used. Neuropsychological testing will also be offered, at no cost, to those patients being treated with Gilenya® in order to help define the presence and extent of their memory impairment. Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Matrices (ANAM)looks at all functional brain systems and will be administered by a psychometrist over a period of 90 minutes.
