Do people with MS with a family history have more cognitive difficulties?
Cognitive difficulties are problems or changes in how we think. They can affect things like memory, attention and concentration. This could look like forgetting appointments, experiencing ‘brain fog’, feeling slower at processing new information, or having trouble finding and making sense of words.
Cognitive difficulties are common in MS. They can occur even in the early stages, and can strongly affect everyday life, work, and wellbeing.
In her previous research using the UK MS Register, Annalaura developed and tested a tool to detect and monitor cognitive difficulties in people with MS, called Cognitron-MS.
Her early results suggest that people with MS who have a family history of MS may experience more cognitive difficulties. She also found that relatives of people with MS showed more cognitive difficulties than people with no family history of MS.
About the project
The aim of this project is to investigate whether people with MS who have a family history of the condition, do experience more cognitive difficulties than those without a family history. Having a family history will mean people with at least one first- or second-degree relative who also has MS.
Annalaura will combine large-scale online cognitive tests with brain scans. She'll study whether certain thinking patterns are linked to family history and whether they reflect shared changes in the brain.
She will:
- Confirm her initial findings in a larger group of people.
- Look at whether these cognitive changes correspond to visible changes in the brain on scans.
- Investigate whether people with and without MS who have a family history of MS show visible differences in their brains on scans.
Another aim of this project is to explore why cognitive difficulties and MS happen more often in some families and whether this is influenced more by genetic, lifestyle or environmental factors.
How will it help people with MS?
Annalaura hopes to:
- Find out whether changes in thinking could act as early warning signs of MS risk
- Identify brain differences linked to these changes
- Better understand why MS runs in some families.
In the future, this could help doctors identify people at higher risk earlier, monitor them more closely, and even start treatments earlier to delay or reduce the impact of MS.
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