Frequent early cognitive impairment in both pediatric MS and MOGAD.

Cross-sectionalMultiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England)· Aug 2026

Frequent early cognitive impairment in both pediatric MS and MOGAD.

Michiel Simon Jan Buijze, Sandy Molenaar, Rosa Verkerk … Rinze Frederik Neuteboom

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NeurologyCross-sectionalDiagnosis

47% of children with multiple sclerosis show early cognitive impairment despite normal IQ

Frequent early cognitive impairment in both pediatric MS and MOGAD.

Michiel Simon Jan Buijze … Rinze Frederik Neuteboom

Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · Aug 2026

Background

Studies on early cognitive impairment (CI) in pediatric multiple sclerosis (multiple sclerosis) are heterogeneous and data on pediatric myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) are scarce.

Purpose

To evaluate early cognitive dysfunction in both diseases and delineate disease-specific neurocognitive profiles.

Methods

A cross-sectional study of children with multiple sclerosis and MOGAD assessed neurocognition within 2 years after disease onset using a comprehensive test battery.

n = 36,

Results

nearly half had thinking or memory problems despite testing normal on IQ

MS

47%

MOGAD

43%

More results

Domain-specific impairments were prominent in complex attention, with significantly reduced composite Z -scores (multiple sclerosis: -1.24, p < 0.001; MOGAD: -1.12, p = 0.019).

Multiple sclerosis children additionally showed lower scores on tasks of visuospatial processing and visual memory.

More results

Only fatigue was significantly associated with the presence of CI (PedsQL fatigue Z -score: -2.61 vs -0.75, p = 0.005).

“

Conclusion

In both pediatric multiple sclerosis and MOGAD, early CI is prevalent with difficulties in complex attention. Visuospatial cognition appears to be an additional vulnerable area for children with multiple sclerosis.

Frequent early cognitive impairment in both pediatric MS and MOGAD.

Frequent early cognitive impairment in both pediatric MS and MOGAD.

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