Investigating the influence of an effort–reward interaction on cognitive fatigue in individuals with multiple sclerosis

Abstract

This study examined whether an alteration in the effort–reward relationship, a theoretical framework based on cognitive neuroscience, could explain cognitive fatigue. Forty persons with MS and 40 healthy age‐ and education‐matched cognitively healthy controls (HC) participated in a computerized switching task with orthogonal high‐ and low‐demand (effort) and reward manipulations. We used the Visual Analog Scale of Fatigue (VAS‐F) to assess subjective state fatigue before and after each condition during the task. We used mixed‐effects models to estimate the association and interaction between effort and reward and their relationship to subjective fatigue and task performance. We found the high‐demand condition was associated with increased VAS‐F scores (p p p p = .006) and higher accuracy (p = .03). There was no interaction effect between effort and reward on VAS‐F scores or performance. Participants with MS reported higher VAS‐F scores (p = .02). Across all conditions, participants with MS were slower (p .001) and slower as a function of condition demand compared with HC (p both effort and reward on task performance. In future studies, more salient reward manipulations could be necessary to identify effort–reward interactions on subjective cognitive fatigue.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Oct 08, 2022
Source ID
10.1111/jnp.12295

Entities

People

  • Benjamin L. Deck
  • Darshan Patel
  • Fareshte Erani
  • John D. Medaglia
  • Maria T. Schultheis
  • Roy H. Hamilton

Organizations

  • Drexel University
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
  • National Institutes of Health
  • University of Pennsylvania

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Psychology

Readers

  • Medical Imaging.
  • Organizational Psychology.
  • Psychological Intervention/Treatment for Stress, Anxiety, PTSD, and Related Emotional and Cognitive Health Symptoms.