Social Cognition in Multiple Sclerosis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Overview

Journal Neurology

Specialty Neurology

Date 2016 Sep 23

PMID 27655736

Citations 48

Authors

Jack Cotter

Joseph Firth

Christian Enzinger

Evangelos Kontopantelis

Alison R Yung

Rebecca Elliott

Richard J Drake

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: To quantify the magnitude of deficits in theory of mind (ToM) and facial emotion recognition among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) relative to healthy controls.

Methods: An electronic database search of Ovid MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Embase was conducted from inception to April 1, 2016. Eligible studies were original research articles published in peer-reviewed journals that examined ToM or facial emotion recognition among patients with a diagnosis of MS and a healthy control comparison group. Data were independently extracted by 2 authors. Effect sizes were calculated using Hedges g.

Results: Twenty-one eligible studies were identified assessing ToM (12 studies) and/or facial emotion recognition (13 studies) among 722 patients with MS and 635 controls. Deficits in both ToM (g = -0.71, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.88 to -0.55, p < 0.001) and facial emotion recognition (g = -0.64, 95% CI -0.81 to -0.47, p < 0.001) were identified among patients with MS relative to healthy controls. The largest deficits were observed for visual ToM tasks and for the recognition of negative facial emotional expressions. Older age predicted larger emotion recognition deficits. Other cognitive domains were inconsistently associated with social cognitive performance.

Conclusions: Social cognitive deficits are an overlooked but potentially important aspect of cognitive impairment in MS with potential prognostic significance for social functioning and quality of life. Further research is required to clarify the longitudinal course of social cognitive dysfunction, its association with MS disease characteristics and neurocognitive impairment, and the MS-specific neurologic damage underlying these deficits.

Citing Articles

Eye-Tracking Metrics as a Digital Biomarker for Neurocognitive Disorders in Multiple Sclerosis: A Scoping Review.

Cecchetti S, Duchowski A, Cavallo M Brain Sci. 2025; 15(2).

PMID: 40002482 PMC: 11852410. DOI: 10.3390/brainsci15020149.

The mediating role of processing speed on the relationship between executive functions and social cognition in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients.

Doskas T, Kormas C, Dekavallas L, Kokkotis C, Tsiakiri A, Christidi F Neurol Sci. 2024; 46(2):1009-1011.

PMID: 39648251 DOI: 10.1007/s10072-024-07924-8.

Facial and Emotion Recognition Deficits in Myasthenia Gravis.

Garcia-Sanchoyerto M, Salgueiro M, Ortega J, Rodriguez A, Parada-Fernandez P, Amayra I Healthcare (Basel). 2024; 12(16).

PMID: 39201141 PMC: 11353744. DOI: 10.3390/healthcare12161582.

Reliability and minimal detectable change of the Yoni task for the theory of mind assessment.

Isernia S, Cacciatore D, Rossetto F, Ricci C, Baglio F Front Psychol. 2024; 15:1412560.

PMID: 39139598 PMC: 11319278. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1412560.

Distinguishing the role of positivity bias, cognitive impairment and emotional reactivity in the deontological preference in multiple sclerosis during moral dilemmas: a social cognition study protocol.

Zikos L, Degraeve B, Pinti A, Poupart J, Norberciak L, Kwiatkowski A Front Psychol. 2024; 15:1404876.

PMID: 39091703 PMC: 11291456. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1404876.

References

Genova H, Cagna C, Chiaravalloti N, DeLuca J, Lengenfelder J . Dynamic Assessment of Social Cognition in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2015; 22(1):83-8. DOI: 10.1017/S1355617715001137. View

Krause M, Wendt J, Dressel A, Berneiser J, Kessler C, Hamm A . Prefrontal function associated with impaired emotion recognition in patients with multiple sclerosis. Behav Brain Res. 2009; 205(1):280-5. DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2009.08.009. View

Weiner H . The challenge of multiple sclerosis: how do we cure a chronic heterogeneous disease?. Ann Neurol. 2009; 65(3):239-48. DOI: 10.1002/ana.21640. View

Dalili M, Penton-Voak I, Harmer C, Munafo M . Meta-analysis of emotion recognition deficits in major depressive disorder. Psychol Med. 2014; 45(6):1135-44. PMC: 4712476. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291714002591. View

Phillips L, Henry J, Scott C, Summers F, Whyte M, Cook M . Specific impairments of emotion perception in multiple sclerosis. Neuropsychology. 2010; 25(1):131-6. DOI: 10.1037/a0020752. View

Passamonti L, Cerasa A, Liguori M, Gioia M, Valentino P, Nistico R . Neurobiological mechanisms underlying emotional processing in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Brain. 2009; 132(Pt 12):3380-91. DOI: 10.1093/brain/awp095. View

Higgins J, Thompson S . Quantifying heterogeneity in a meta-analysis. Stat Med. 2002; 21(11):1539-58. DOI: 10.1002/sim.1186. View

Bora E, Pantelis C . Meta-analysis of social cognition in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): comparison with healthy controls and autistic spectrum disorder. Psychol Med. 2015; 46(4):699-716. DOI: 10.1017/S0033291715002573. View

Brockwell S, GORDON I . A comparison of statistical methods for meta-analysis. Stat Med. 2001; 20(6):825-40. DOI: 10.1002/sim.650. View

10.

Lucchinetti C, Bruck W, Parisi J, Scheithauer B, Rodriguez M, Lassmann H . Heterogeneity of multiple sclerosis lesions: implications for the pathogenesis of demyelination. Ann Neurol. 2000; 47(6):707-17. DOI: 10.1002/1531-8249(200006)47:6<707::aid-ana3>3.0.co;2-q. View

11.

Prochnow D, Donell J, Schafer R, Jorgens S, Hartung H, Franz M . Alexithymia and impaired facial affect recognition in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol. 2011; 258(9):1683-8. DOI: 10.1007/s00415-011-6002-4. View

12.

Cecchetto C, Aiello M, DAmico D, Cutuli D, Cargnelutti D, Eleopra R . Facial and bodily emotion recognition in multiple sclerosis: the role of alexithymia and other characteristics of the disease. J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2014; 20(10):1004-14. DOI: 10.1017/S1355617714000939. View

13.

Compston A, Coles A . Multiple sclerosis. Lancet. 2008; 372(9648):1502-17. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61620-7. View

14.

Beatty W, Orbelo D, Sorocco K, Ross E . Comprehension of affective prosody in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2003; 9(2):148-53. DOI: 10.1191/1352458503ms897oa. View

15.

McDonald W, Compston A, Edan G, Goodkin D, Hartung H, Lublin F . Recommended diagnostic criteria for multiple sclerosis: guidelines from the International Panel on the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis. Ann Neurol. 2001; 50(1):121-7. DOI: 10.1002/ana.1032. View

16.

Fett A, Viechtbauer W, Dominguez M, Penn D, van Os J, Krabbendam L . The relationship between neurocognition and social cognition with functional outcomes in schizophrenia: a meta-analysis. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2010; 35(3):573-88. DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2010.07.001. View

17.

Jehna M, Langkammer C, Wallner-Blazek M, Neuper C, Loitfelder M, Ropele S . Cognitively preserved MS patients demonstrate functional differences in processing neutral and emotional faces. Brain Imaging Behav. 2011; 5(4):241-51. DOI: 10.1007/s11682-011-9128-1. View

18.

Mike A, Strammer E, Aradi M, Orsi G, Perlaki G, Hajnal A . Disconnection mechanism and regional cortical atrophy contribute to impaired processing of facial expressions and theory of mind in multiple sclerosis: a structural MRI study. PLoS One. 2013; 8(12):e82422. PMC: 3862626. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0082422. View

19.

Jehna M, Neuper C, Petrovic K, Wallner-Blazek M, Schmidt R, Fuchs S . An exploratory study on emotion recognition in patients with a clinically isolated syndrome and multiple sclerosis. Clin Neurol Neurosurg. 2010; 112(6):482-4. DOI: 10.1016/j.clineuro.2010.03.020. View

20.

Kontopantelis E, Reeves D . Performance of statistical methods for meta-analysis when true study effects are non-normally distributed: A simulation study. Stat Methods Med Res. 2010; 21(4):409-26. DOI: 10.1177/0962280210392008. View