The use of event-related potentials in the investigation of cognitive performance in people with Multiple Sclerosis: Systematic review

Robin Vlieger; Duncan Austin; Deborah Apthorp; Elena Daskalaki; Artem Lensky; Dianne Walton-Sonda; Hanna Suominen; Christian J Lueck

doi:10.1016/j.brainres.2024.148827

The use of event-related potentials in the investigation of cognitive performance in people with Multiple Sclerosis: Systematic review

Brain Res. 2024 Jun 1:1832:148827. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2024.148827. Epub 2024 Feb 24.

Authors

Robin Vlieger¹, Duncan Austin², Deborah Apthorp³, Elena Daskalaki⁴, Artem Lensky⁵, Dianne Walton-Sonda⁶, Hanna Suominen⁷, Christian J Lueck⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Medicine and Psychology, College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Central Clinical School, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
³ School of Psychology, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia; School of Computing, College of Engineering, Computing & Cybernetics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
⁴ School of Computing, College of Engineering, Computing & Cybernetics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
⁵ School of Engineering and Technology, University of New South Wales, Canberra, ACT, Australia; School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁶ The ACT Health Library and Multimedia Service, The Canberra Hospital, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
⁷ School of Medicine and Psychology, College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia; School of Computing, College of Engineering, Computing & Cybernetics, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia; Department of Computing, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.
⁸ School of Medicine and Psychology, College of Health and Medicine, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

PMID: 38403040
DOI: 10.1016/j.brainres.2024.148827

Abstract

A biomarker of cognition in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) that is independent from the response of people with MS (PwMS) to test questions would provide a more holistic assessment of cognitive decline. One suggested method involves event-related potentials (ERPs). This systematic review tried to answer five questions about the use of ERPs in distinguishing PwMS from controls: which stimulus modality, which experimental paradigm, which electrodes, and which ERP components are most discriminatory, and whether amplitude or latency is a better measure. Our results show larger pooled effect sizes for visual stimuli than auditory stimuli, and larger pooled effect sizes for latency measurements than amplitude measurements. We observed great heterogeneity in methods and suggest that future research would benefit from more uniformity in methods and that results should be reported for the individual subtypes of PwMS. With more standardised methods, ERPs have the potential to be developed into a clinical tool in MS.

Keywords: Clinical markers; Cognitive function; Data science; Electroencephalography; Event-related potentials; Multiple sclerosis; Neuropsychological tests; Systematic review.

Publication types

Systematic Review
Review

MeSH terms

Cognition* / physiology
Electroencephalography / methods
Evoked Potentials* / physiology
Humans
Multiple Sclerosis* / physiopathology