SynthesisScientific reports2026
Association between emotion recognition and cognitive functioning in multiple sclerosis: a multilevel correlational meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Scientific reports, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Theory of Mind and Information Processing Speed in Multiple Sclerosis: Associations With Personality Traits.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disease marked by both cognitive and socio-cognitive impairments, including difficulties in recognizing emotions. While deficits in processing speed, executive functions, and episodic memory are well known, growing evidence also points to impairments in emotion-recognition, particularly for negative emotions such as fear, sadness, or disgust. However, the extent to which these socio-cognitive difficulties are linked to broader cognitive dysfunction remains unclear, as individual studies report inconsistent findings. This meta-analysis synthesized data from 23 independent studies (k = 774 correlations) using multilevel random-effects models to quantify the association between emotion-recognition and cognitive functioning in MS. Overall, results revealed small to moderate associations between emotion-recognition and cognitive performance, with stronger effects for negative emotions and for total emotion scores. Processing speed and executive functions exhibited broad associations, while episodic memory effects were more emotion-specific. At the subdomain level, working memory and verbal fluency emerged as key correlates. However, substantial heterogeneity across studies should be noted. Additional meta-regressions indicated that higher disability and anxiety were associated with stronger emotion-cognition links, whereas longer disease duration and depression predicted weaker associations. These findings indicate that emotion-recognition deficits in MS seem partially connected to neurocognitive dysfunctions.Trial registration: The preregistered review protocol can be accessed at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3VNA4 .
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