The neurobiology of socioeconomic status in multiple sclerosis

Socioeconomically advantaged people with multiple sclerosis have far milder disability compared to disadvantaged people, even accounting for differences in medical care. For example, premorbid education attainment has a far greater effect on disability severity compared to even the best available treatments. One mechanism by which this may occur is a correlation between educational attainment and structural CNS reserve. This project first identifies key features in MRI brain scans that are relevant to educational attainment in a cohort of people with MS, then models the relationship between educational attainment, MRI features and age adjusted disease severity. We aim to publish the study as a high impact peer reviewed paper.