“Multiple sclerosis is a chronic demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system with a wide range of motor and sensory symptoms. Importantly, this disabling disease affects 2.3 million people worldwide and 6500 inhabitants in Portugal, representing the most common cause of nontraumatic disability in young adults. Besides motor and sensory symptoms, cognitive impairment has an estimated prevalence of 40-70% multiple sclerosis, impacting quality of life of patients. However, among the various forms of cognition, memory of other individuals (social memory) was never evaluated in multiple sclerosis, due to absence of a reliable way of assessment.

In this project, we propose the use of an innovative task (in collaboration with Daniela Schiller laboratory, Mount Sinai, New York) that will allow two-dimensional mapping of social navigation (as indicative of social memory) in multiple sclerosis, which will be combined with structural and functional neuroimaging techniques established at our laboratory. Our aim is to find if multiple sclerosis patients display social memory deficits and unravel the underlying neural correlates.”