My ongoing doctoral research focuses on cognitive relapse, defined as transient cognitive decline during relapse in multiple sclerosis (MS). Specifically, I seek to understand the pathological mechanisms influencing cognitive relapse and subsequent recovery. To this end, I am correlating observed cognitive changes during and after relapse with MRI measures of neuropathology, with a focus on pathologies impacting three cognition-associated structural brain networks. Additionally, I am conducting studies to determine whether cognitive relapse impacts long-term cognitive trajectories and how it may interact with cognitive reserve, a construct describing resilience to neuropathological change.

Michael G. Dwyer III, PhD