Interval Timing in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: Impaired in the Subsecond Range but Unimpaired in the One-Second Range
Background: For adult multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, impaired temporal processing of simultaneity/successiveness has been frequently reported although interval timing has been investigated in neither adult nor pediatric MS patients. We aim to extend previous research in two ways. First, we focus...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2020-10-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neurology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2020.575780/full |
| _version_ | 1819265265009950720 |
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| author | Stefan J. Troche Tugba Kapanci Thomas H. Rammsayer Carl P. A. Kesseler Martin Georg Häusler Tobias Geis Mareike Schimmel Christiane Elpers Jonas H. Kreth Charlotte Thiels Kevin Rostásy |
| author_facet | Stefan J. Troche Tugba Kapanci Thomas H. Rammsayer Carl P. A. Kesseler Martin Georg Häusler Tobias Geis Mareike Schimmel Christiane Elpers Jonas H. Kreth Charlotte Thiels Kevin Rostásy |
| author_sort | Stefan J. Troche |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: For adult multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, impaired temporal processing of simultaneity/successiveness has been frequently reported although interval timing has been investigated in neither adult nor pediatric MS patients. We aim to extend previous research in two ways. First, we focus on interval timing (instead of simultaneity/successiveness) and differentiate between sensory-automatic processing of intervals in the subsecond range and cognitive processing of intervals in the one-second range. Second, we investigate whether impaired temporal information processing would also be observable in pediatric MS patients' interval timing in the subsecond and one-second ranges.Methods: Participants were 22 pediatric MS patients and 22 healthy controls, matched for age, gender, and psychometric intelligence as measured by the Culture Fair Test 20-R. They completed two auditory interval-timing tasks with stimuli in the subsecond and one-second ranges, respectively, as well as a frequency discrimination task.Results: Pediatric MS patients showed impaired interval timing in the subsecond range compared to healthy controls with a mean difference of the difference limen (DL) of 6.3 ms, 95% CI [1.7, 10.9 ms] and an effect size of Cohen's d = 0.830. The two groups did not differ significantly in interval timing in the one-second range (mean difference of the DL = 26.9 ms, 95% CI [−14.2, 67.9 ms], Cohen's d = 0.399) or in frequency discrimination (mean difference of the DL = 0.4 Hz, 95% CI [−1.1, 1.9 Hz], Cohen's d = 0.158).Conclusion: The results indicate that, in particular, the sensory-automatic processing of intervals in the subsecond range but not the cognitive processing of longer intervals is impaired in pediatric MS patients. This differential pattern of results is unlikely to be explained by general deficits of auditory information processing. A tentative explanation, to be tested in future studies, points to subcortical deficits in pediatric MS patients, which might also underlie deficits in speech and visuomotor coordination typically reported in pediatric MS patients. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T20:42:37Z |
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| id | doaj.art-c6dc7a04cb784272b143168ea3c38c6c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-2295 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T20:42:37Z |
| publishDate | 2020-10-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
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| series | Frontiers in Neurology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c6dc7a04cb784272b143168ea3c38c6c2022-12-21T17:31:52ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neurology1664-22952020-10-011110.3389/fneur.2020.575780575780Interval Timing in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: Impaired in the Subsecond Range but Unimpaired in the One-Second RangeStefan J. Troche0Tugba Kapanci1Thomas H. Rammsayer2Carl P. A. Kesseler3Martin Georg Häusler4Tobias Geis5Mareike Schimmel6Christiane Elpers7Jonas H. Kreth8Charlotte Thiels9Kevin Rostásy10Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandDepartment of Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Witten/Herdecke, Witten, GermanyInstitute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandDepartment of Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Witten/Herdecke, Witten, GermanyDivision of Neuropediatrics and Social Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital, Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Pediatric Neurology, Klinik St. Hedwig, University Children's Hospital Regensburg (Kinder-Universitätsklinik Ostbayern KUNO), Regensburg, GermanyPediatric Neurology, Children's Hospital, University Hospital Augsburg, Augsburg, GermanyNeuropediatric Department, Children's University Hospital Muenster, Muenster, GermanyDepartment of Pediatric Neurology, Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Klinikum Leverkusen, Leverkusen, GermanyDepartment of Pediatrics and Pediatric Neurology, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, GermanyPediatric Neurology, University of Witten/Herdecke, Children's Hospital Datteln, Datteln, GermanyBackground: For adult multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, impaired temporal processing of simultaneity/successiveness has been frequently reported although interval timing has been investigated in neither adult nor pediatric MS patients. We aim to extend previous research in two ways. First, we focus on interval timing (instead of simultaneity/successiveness) and differentiate between sensory-automatic processing of intervals in the subsecond range and cognitive processing of intervals in the one-second range. Second, we investigate whether impaired temporal information processing would also be observable in pediatric MS patients' interval timing in the subsecond and one-second ranges.Methods: Participants were 22 pediatric MS patients and 22 healthy controls, matched for age, gender, and psychometric intelligence as measured by the Culture Fair Test 20-R. They completed two auditory interval-timing tasks with stimuli in the subsecond and one-second ranges, respectively, as well as a frequency discrimination task.Results: Pediatric MS patients showed impaired interval timing in the subsecond range compared to healthy controls with a mean difference of the difference limen (DL) of 6.3 ms, 95% CI [1.7, 10.9 ms] and an effect size of Cohen's d = 0.830. The two groups did not differ significantly in interval timing in the one-second range (mean difference of the DL = 26.9 ms, 95% CI [−14.2, 67.9 ms], Cohen's d = 0.399) or in frequency discrimination (mean difference of the DL = 0.4 Hz, 95% CI [−1.1, 1.9 Hz], Cohen's d = 0.158).Conclusion: The results indicate that, in particular, the sensory-automatic processing of intervals in the subsecond range but not the cognitive processing of longer intervals is impaired in pediatric MS patients. This differential pattern of results is unlikely to be explained by general deficits of auditory information processing. A tentative explanation, to be tested in future studies, points to subcortical deficits in pediatric MS patients, which might also underlie deficits in speech and visuomotor coordination typically reported in pediatric MS patients.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2020.575780/fullcognitive impairmentinterval timingpediatric multiple sclerosis (MS)neuropsychologydistinct timing hypothesistemporal information processing |
| spellingShingle | Stefan J. Troche Tugba Kapanci Thomas H. Rammsayer Carl P. A. Kesseler Martin Georg Häusler Tobias Geis Mareike Schimmel Christiane Elpers Jonas H. Kreth Charlotte Thiels Kevin Rostásy Interval Timing in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: Impaired in the Subsecond Range but Unimpaired in the One-Second Range Frontiers in Neurology cognitive impairment interval timing pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) neuropsychology distinct timing hypothesis temporal information processing |
| title | Interval Timing in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: Impaired in the Subsecond Range but Unimpaired in the One-Second Range |
| title_full | Interval Timing in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: Impaired in the Subsecond Range but Unimpaired in the One-Second Range |
| title_fullStr | Interval Timing in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: Impaired in the Subsecond Range but Unimpaired in the One-Second Range |
| title_full_unstemmed | Interval Timing in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: Impaired in the Subsecond Range but Unimpaired in the One-Second Range |
| title_short | Interval Timing in Pediatric Multiple Sclerosis: Impaired in the Subsecond Range but Unimpaired in the One-Second Range |
| title_sort | interval timing in pediatric multiple sclerosis impaired in the subsecond range but unimpaired in the one second range |
| topic | cognitive impairment interval timing pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) neuropsychology distinct timing hypothesis temporal information processing |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fneur.2020.575780/full |
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