title: Sound Lateralization Test Distinguishes Unimpaired MS Patients from Healthy Controls.
abstract: There is an urgent need to develop a practical and reliable clinical measure of disease progression in early and mild MS. We hypothesized that a test of sound lateralization, which is exquisitely sensitive to transmission delays in auditory brainstem, could be more useful for detecting processing speed deficits in mildly impaired MS subjects than standard cognitive tasks. Objective. To develop a practical test of sound lateralization for the clinic and to compare performance of MS subjects with variable disability and healthy subjects on Sound Lateralization Test (SLT) and two speed-of-processing tasks. Design. 42 healthy controls and 90 subjects with clinically definite MS, divided into no, mild, and moderate disability strata, were administered the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), and 3-second Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test (PASAT). Results. All of the tests showed an overall difference in performance between controls and the three MS groups, but only the SLT measured a significant difference between controls and the no disability group. Conclusion. SLT is rapidly applied, technically simple, and superior to standard processing speed tests for discriminating between healthy controls and nondisabled MS subjects. SLT should be investigated as an outcome measure in early-phase trials and for monitoring early disease progression in the clinic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA ; NYU Multiple Sclerosis Care Center, Department of Neurology, NYU School of Medicine, 240 E38th Street, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Joshua H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Bacon
authors.affiliation: NYU Multiple Sclerosis Care Center, Department of Neurology, NYU School of Medicine, 240 E38th Street, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Ilya
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-3549-949X
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kister
authors.affiliation: NYU Multiple Sclerosis Care Center, Department of Neurology, NYU School of Medicine, 240 E38th Street, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Tamar E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Bacon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Eliana
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-0401-4111
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pasternak
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, 215 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Yael
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-9970-933X
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Strauchler
authors.affiliation: NYU Multiple Sclerosis Care Center, Department of Neurology, NYU School of Medicine, 240 E38th Street, New York, NY 10016, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-5424-1238
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Herbert