Conclusions
RECRUITMENT
In sum, we demonstrate that neither elevated trait CF nor elevated state CF disrupts the ability to learn from feedback related to associative memory performance in people with MS. MS and NT participants displayed comparable task performance and similar recruitment of the VS, caudate, and vmPFC during the processing of feedback – suggesting that feedback-based learning might be a cognitive capacity that is spared by CF in MS. Where these populations appear to differ, however, are the functional connections among these regions. During positive feedback outcomes, strengthening of VS-AG-STG connectivity in MS participants displayed potential associations with learning, providing a circuit of interest for future investigations into associative memory in MS. MS participants also displayed potential reductions in caudate-dACC connectivity associated with their elevated state CF, providing another circuit to be further examined in future studies on CF’s impact on learning. These findings may also have translational implications for performance during feedback-based treatments used in cognitive rehabilitation (