Attentional control patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis: a comparative study with healthy participants
Keywords:
multiple sclerosis, attentional control, cognitive impairmentAbstract
Introduction: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic neurological disease with high prevalence and complex symptoms. Impairments in attentional control are often among the first manifestations of cognitive decline. Due to the importance of attentional processes and the need to identify critical processes that function for early diagnosis, their study in patients with multiple sclerosis is of high value.
Objective: To determine how attentional control behaves in a group of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
Method: The study worked with a sample of 26 participants, divided into an experimental group of patients, and a control group, matched by sex and age. The mean of age was 41,38 years. The Attentional Networks Test and the Two Stimulus Sequential Test were used to measure the attentional process. Data analysis employed mean comparison tests between the groups.
Results: Significant differences were found in performance on attentional selection at hierarchical levels, with the patient group performing significantly worse. Regarding attentional networks, differences were only found in the orienting network. The alerting and executive networks showed no statistically significant differences between the patients and the control group.
Conclusions: There is significant variability in attentional processes among patients with multiple sclerosis, making it necessary to include new variables for future studies. This research provides data on the usefulness of the tests employed in potential diagnostic protocols.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Ivette Cabrera Abreu, Diamelys Pérez González, Elizabeth Fernández Martínez, Amado Díaz de La Fe, Teresa Morgado Vega, Margarita Minou Báez Martín, Brando Mesa Cabrera, Klency González Hernández, Jorge Iglesias Fuster
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