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Intellectual performance in multiple sclerosis depends on air temperature
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
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American scientists from the Kessler Foundation have discovered a decline in intellectual activity in people with multiple sclerosis with warming. The results of the study were published in the journal Neurology.
Victoria M. Leavitt and colleagues found that when the air temperature rises, patients with multiple sclerosis perform worse on tasks related to quickly processing and remembering information. The study, which lasted more than a year, involved 40 patients with multiple sclerosis and 40 healthy people. Throughout the study, the scientists assessed the speed of information processing and memory work in both groups of participants. According to the test results, people with multiple sclerosis showed results 70 percent better on cool days. For healthy participants in the experiment, no dependencies were found.
Leavitt then studied 45 more MS patients for six months to confirm these findings. She believes that intellectual activity may be a better indicator of disease activity in the absence of symptoms than traditional assessment methods.
"This information will help guide decisions and treatment choices and assess their impact. Warmer temperatures can be an important factor in the design and conduct of clinical trials, many of which last about six months. For example, conducting pivotal trials during warmer months may overestimate the benefits," Dr. Leavitt said.
In warm weather, patients with multiple sclerosis show more clinical manifestations of the disease and accumulation of contrast agent, which is used in MRI, in areas of demyelination.