About the Authors

Bianca Weinstock-Guttman

Affiliation Department of Neurology, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Robert Zivadinov

Affiliations Department of Neurology, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America, Department of Neurology, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Gary Cutter

Affiliation Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama, United States of America

Miriam Tamaño-Blanco

Affiliation Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Karen Marr

Affiliation Department of Neurology, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Darlene Badgett

Affiliation Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Ellen Carl

Affiliation Department of Neurology, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Makki Elfadil

Affiliation Department of Neurology, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Cheryl Kennedy

Affiliation Department of Neurology, Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Ralph H. B. Benedict

Affiliation Department of Neurology, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Murali Ramanathan

Murali@Buffalo.Edu

Affiliations Department of Neurology, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York, United States of America

Competing Interests

RZ received speaker honoraria, consultant fees and research support from Teva Neuroscience, Biogen Idec, Questcor, and Genzyme; speaker honoraria and consultant fees from EMD Serono; and research support from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS), Teva Pharmaceuticals, Bracco, and Greatbatch. Additional contributions were provided by the Direct Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, Jacquemin Family Foundation, Tactical Technologies, Estee Lauder Companies, and the Pink Door. BWG received compensation for speaking and financial support for research activities from Teva Neuroscience, Biogen Idec, and EMD Serono. She also received financial support for research activities from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), NMSS, National Science Foundation (NSF), Cyberonics, and the Jog for the Jake Foundation. MR received research funding or consulting fees from EMD Serono, Biogen Idec, Allergan, Netezza, Pfizer, Novartis, NMSS, the Department of Defense, Jog for the Jake Foundation, the NIH, and the NSF. He serves as an editor for The American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences. GC received compensation for participation in Data and Safety Monitoring Committees: Sanofi-Aventis, Cleveland Clinic, Daichi-Sankyo, GlaxoSmithKline, Genmab Biopharmaceuticals, Eli Lilly, Medivation, Modigenetech, Ono Pharmaceuticals, PTC Therapeutics, Teva, Vivus, University of Pennsylvania, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (NINDS), and NMSS and received consulting, speaking, and advisory board fees from Alexion, Bayhill, Bayer, Novartis, Genzyme, Klein-Buendel, Peptimmune, Somnus Pharmaceuticals, Sandoz, Teva Pharmaceuticals, University of Texas Southwestern, Visioneering Technologies, as well as grant support from the NINDS, Consortium of MS Centers, NMSS, NHLBI, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute on Aging, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease. RHBB has served on advisory panels for Biogen, EMD Serono, Merck, Novartis, and Bayer. He has received continuing medical education funding from Bayer, Merck, and Biogen and grant support from the NMSS, NIH, Biogen, and Shire. He receives royalties from Psychological Assessment Resources. There are no patents, products in development, or marketed products to declare. MTB, DB, KM, EC, ME, and CK do not have any conflicts of interest. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: BWG RZ RHBB MR. Performed the experiments: MTB KM DB ME CK. Analyzed the data: GC EC MR. Wrote the paper: BWG RZ MR.