Search Our Scientific Publications & Authors

J Neurol Sci 2021 Jun 3;427:117529. Epub 2021 Jun 3.

Department of Neurology, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan. Electronic address:

Due to an increasing number of dementia patients, the development of a rapid and sensitive method for cognitive assessment is awaited. Here, we examined the usefulness of a novel and short (3 min) eye tracking device to evaluate the cognitive function of normal control (NC, n = 52), mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 52), and Alzheimer's disease (AD, n = 70) subjects. Eye tracking total score declined significantly in MCI (**p < 0. Read More

Ann Clin Transl Neurol 2021 Jun 15. Epub 2021 Jun 15.

Division of Affinity Proteomics, Department of Protein Science, SciLifeLab, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.

Objective: Decreased amyloid beta (Aβ) 42 together with increased tau and phospho-tau in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is indicative of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, the molecular pathophysiology underlying the slowly progressive cognitive decline observed in AD is not fully understood and it is not known what other CSF biomarkers may be altered in early disease stages.

Methods: We utilized an antibody-based suspension bead array to analyze levels of 216 proteins in CSF from AD patients, patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and controls from two independent cohorts collected within the AETIONOMY consortium. Read More

PLoS One 2021 15;16(6):e0252814. Epub 2021 Jun 15.

Department of Family Medicine, Division of Palliative Care, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Introduction: The end-of-life symptom prevalence of non-cancer patients have been described mostly in hospital and institutional settings. This study aims to describe the average symptom trajectories among non-cancer patients who are community-dwelling and used home care services at the end of life.

Materials And Methods: This is a retrospective, population-based cohort study of non-cancer patients who used home care services in the last 6 months of life in Ontario, Canada, between 2007 and 2014. Read More

Clin Gerontol 2021 Jun 15:1-13. Epub 2021 Jun 15.

Departamento de Fisiatría y Enfermería, Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.

: The objective of this study was to analyze the long-term effects of a personalized cognitive stimulation (PCS) program on the global cognition, cognitive aspects, activities of daily living (ADLs), anxiety, and depression in older adults with possible mild cognitive impairment (MCI).: A 12-month follow-up analysis was carried out in a single-blind, randomized clinical trial to research the long-term effects of a 10-week PCS program evaluating the cognitive level, depression, and anxiety of older adults with possible MCI.: Fifty older adults were assessed 12 months after the CS program, 23 in the intervention group and 27 in the control group. Read More

Top Cogn Sci 2021 Jun 14. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

Department of Psychology, Temple University.

The loss of the ability to independently complete activities of daily living, such as meal preparation and household chores, is a defining characteristic of clinical dementia; however, minor difficulties in completing everyday activities emerge in the mild cognitive impairment stage, and even healthy older adults exhibit subtle functional difficulties compared to younger adults. These functional difficulties are associated with an array of negative outcomes, including decreased quality of life, higher costs of care, and increased frustration, depression, caregiver burden, and institutionalization. While cognitive models have been proposed to explain the functional deficits seen in dementia and subtler forms of cognitive decline, in contrast to other cognitive disorders such as aphasia, there are essentially no theoretically motivated interventions to address difficulties in everyday functioning. Read More

Int Psychogeriatr 2021 Jun 15:1-7. Epub 2021 Jun 15.

Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.

Objective: To examine the link between social and emotional isolation and likelihood of dementia among older black and white Brazilians.

Design: Cross-sectional clinical-pathological cohort study.

Setting: Medical center in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Read More

Alzheimers Res Ther 2021 Jun 14;13(1):114. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

Key Laboratory for Neurodegenerative Disorders of the Ministry of Education, Capital Medical University, Beijing, 100069, China.

Background: Neuronal hyperactivity related to β-amyloid (Aβ) is considered an early warning sign of Alzheimer disease (AD). Although increasing evidence supports this opinion, the underlying mechanisms are still unknown.

Methods: Here, we recorded whole-cell synaptic currents and membrane potentials using patch clamping of acute hippocampal slices from human amyloid precursor protein (APP)/presenilin-1 transgenic (5XFAD) mice and their wild-type littermates. Read More

Neurobiol Aging 2021 May 21;105:241-251. Epub 2021 May 21.

Imaging Genetics Center, Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Marina del Rey, CA, USA. Electronic address:

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a complex signaling protein that supports vascular and neuronal function. Alzheimer's disease (AD) -neuropathological hallmarks interfere with VEGF signaling and modify previously detected positive associations between cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) VEGF and cognition and hippocampal volume. However, it remains unknown 1) whether regional relationships between VEGF and glucose metabolism and cortical thinning exist, and 2) whether AD-neuropathological hallmarks (CSF Aβ, t-tau, p-tau) also modify these relationships. Read More

PLoS One 2021 14;16(6):e0252958. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

Department of Neurology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C., United States of America.

Spatial inhibition of return (IOR) refers to the phenomenon by which individuals are slower to respond to stimuli appearing at a previously cued location compared to un-cued locations. Here with a group of older adults (n = 56, 58-80 (67.9±5. Read More

Mol Omics 2021 Jun;17(3):454-463

Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, 55902, USA. and McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA and Center for Individualized Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, USA and Department of Biological Chemistry, Pathology and Oncology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia and is associated with serious neurologic sequelae resulting from neurodegenerative changes. Identification of markers of early-stage AD could be important for designing strategies to arrest the progression of the disease. The brain is rich in lipids because they are crucial for signal transduction and anchoring of membrane proteins. Read More

J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2021 Jun 14:1-14. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

Department of Physiotherapy (Occupational Therapy), University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain.

Objective: To validate an informant-based tool - the extended version of the Cognitive Scale of Basic and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (BADL and IADL) or Ext. Cog-ADL Scale - in a larger sample and with a broader range of cognitive-functional items related to activities of daily living (ADL).

Method: The Ext. Read More

Front Psychiatry 2021 28;12:669320. Epub 2021 May 28.

Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.

Down syndrome (DS, Trisomy 21) and Williams syndrome (WS) are two neurodevelopmental disorders of genetic origin that are accompanied by mild to moderate intellectual disability but exhibit distinct cognitive profiles. In this review we discuss our recent work characterizing the real-world spatial learning and memory abilities of adult individuals with DS and WS. We used several different paradigms in which participants locomote freely and have access to coherent input from all sensory modalities to investigate their fundamental egocentric (body-centered or viewpoint-dependent) and allocentric (world-centered or viewpoint-independent) spatial abilities. Read More

Front Aging Neurosci 2021 28;13:674288. Epub 2021 May 28.

Department of MRI, Shaanxi Provincial People's Hospital, Xi'an, China.

Cognitive impairment in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is associated with functional and structural abnormalities in the intrinsic brain network. The salience network (SN) is a neurocognitive network that maintains normal cognitive function, but it has received little attention in T2DM. We explored SN changes in patients with T2DM with normal cognitive function (DMCN) and in patients with T2DM with mild cognitive impairment (DMCI). Read More

Front Aging Neurosci 2021 28;13:670115. Epub 2021 May 28.

Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, National Defense Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

The rate of cognitive decline among patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) varies, and it is thus crucial to accurately predict the probability of cognitive deterioration in patients with MCI. We compared the potential of cytokines with amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau biomarkers for predicting cognitive decline in patients with aMCI or Alzheimer's disease (AD). All participants (controls, aMCI, and AD patients) underwent plasma biomarker examinations for Aβ, Aβ, total tau (t-tau), tau phosphorylated at threonine 181 [-Tau181]), and 29 cytokines and baseline cognitive tests, including Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Read More

J Alzheimers Dis 2021 Jun 7. Epub 2021 Jun 7.

Departments of Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.

Background: APOEɛ4 allele carriers present with increased risk for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), show cognitive symptoms at earlier age, and are more likely to transition from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to dementia but despite this, it remains unclear whether or not the ɛ4 allele controls the rate of disease progression.

Objective: To determine effects of the ɛ4 allele on rates of cognitive decline and brain atrophy during MCI and dementia stages of AD.

Methods: A segmented linear mixed model was chosen for longitudinal modeling of cognitive and brain volumetric data of 73 ɛ3/ɛ3, 99 ɛ3/ɛ4, and 39 ɛ4/ɛ4 Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative participants who transitioned during the study from MCI to AD dementia. Read More

J Alzheimers Dis 2021 Jun 9. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

'Rita Levi Montalcini' Department of Neuroscience University of Torino, Turin, Italy.

Background: Recent cross-sectional studies highlighted the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) as an early pathophysiological event in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Objective: In this study, we longitudinally investigated by resting-state fMRI (RS-fMRI) a cohort of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD to evaluate the impact of VTA disconnection in predicting the conversion to AD.

Methods: A cohort of 35 patients with MCI due to AD were recruited and followed-up for 24 months. Read More

J Alzheimers Dis 2021 Jun 7. Epub 2021 Jun 7.

Departamento de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación, Universitat de Valencia, Spain.

Background: The study of emotion recognition could be crucial for detecting alterations in certain cognitive areas or as an early sign of neurological disorders.

Objective: The main objective of the study is to characterize research development on emotion recognition, identifying the intellectual structure that supports this area of knowledge, and the main lines of research attracting investigators' interest.

Methods: We identified publications on emotion recognition and dementia included in the Web of Science Core Collection, analyzing the scientific output and main disciplines involved in generating knowledge in the area. Read More

J Alzheimers Dis 2021 Jun 9. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Centre for Research on Ageing, Health and Wellbeing, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia.

Background: Individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are at high risk of progression to Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia, but some remain stable. There is a need to identify those at higher risk of progression to improve patient management and outcomes.

Objective: To evaluate the trajectory of plasma neurofilament light chain (pNFL) prior to progression from MCI to AD dementia, the performance of pNFL, in combination with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), as a predictor of progression from MCI to AD dementia and to inform clinicians on the use of pNFL as a predictive biomarker. Read More

J Alzheimers Dis 2021 Jun 9. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Center for Comprehensive Care and Research on Memory Disorders, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan.

Background: Homocysteine is a common risk factor for cognitive impairment and sarcopenia. However, very few studies have shown an association between sarcopenia and serum homocysteine levels after adjustment for cognitive function.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between homocysteine and sarcopenia in memory clinic patients. Read More

J Alzheimers Dis 2021 Jun 9. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Department of Neurology, Memory and Aging Center, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Background: Timely diagnosis of dementia is a global healthcare priority, particularly in low to middle income countries where rapid increases in older adult populations are expected.

Objective: To investigate global perspectives on the role of brief cognitive assessments (BCAs) in dementia diagnosis, strengths and limitations of existing measures, and future directions and needs.

Methods: This is a qualitative study of 18 dementia experts from different areas of the world. Read More

Age Ageing 2021 Jun 11. Epub 2021 Jun 11.

Oregon Research Institute, Eugene, OR 97403, USA.

Objective: Exercise prevents falls in the general older population, but evidence is inconclusive for older adults living with cognitive impairment. We performed an updated systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the potential effectiveness of interventions for reducing falls in older persons with cognitive impairment.

Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus, CENTRAL and PEDro were searched from inception to 10 November 2020. Read More

Transl Psychiatry 2021 Jun 12;11(1):356. Epub 2021 Jun 12.

Department of Neurology and Institute of Neurology, Huashan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

To assess plasma phosphorylated tau181 (p-tau181) as a progression biomarker in Alzheimer's disease (AD), we examined longitudinal plasma p-tau181 of 1184 participants (403 cognitively normal (CN), 560 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 221 with AD dementia) from Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI). The plasma p-tau level was increased at baseline for MCI and AD dementia (mean: CN, 15.4 pg/mL; MCI, 18. Read More

Neuroimage Clin 2021 Jun 6;31:102717. Epub 2021 Jun 6.

Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) can be an early manifestation of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, other pathologic entities [e.g., cerebrovascular disease, Lewy body disease, LATE (limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy)], or mixed pathologies, with concomitant AD- and non-AD pathology being particularly common, albeit difficult to identify, in living MCI patients. Read More

Neurosci Lett 2021 Jun 10:136044. Epub 2021 Jun 10.

Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany; German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Dresden, Germany.

Experimental data reveal that lithium is capable of attenuating Alzheimer's disease pathology and stimulating adult hippocampal neurogenesis. Clinical studies show procognitive effects in lithium-treated patients with amnestic MCI and Alzheimer's disease. These procognitive effects are associated with changes of CSF biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease. Read More

Front Neuroendocrinol 2021 Jun 10:100927. Epub 2021 Jun 10.

Healthy Ageing Program, Centre for Medical Research (Royal Melbourne Hospital), Faculty of Medicine Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia.

There are strong indicators that sex hormones have a role in cognition. There has been more than 100 years of dementia research without yielding a disease-modifying therapy or cure and so it is important to explore knowledge gaps in our understanding of this increasingly prevalent fatal disease which currently limit our success. In this paper we discuss the role of sex hormones at the intersection between vascular disease and dementia, in light of the mounting literature covering the shared risk factors, pathological features alongside the timeline of hormonal change with the evolution of vascular and neurodegenerative disease. Read More

Alzheimers Res Ther 2021 Jun 12;13(1):112. Epub 2021 Jun 12.

Division of Physiology, School of Medicine, Instituto de Investigacion Biomedica de Cadiz (INIBICA), Universidad de Cadiz, Edificio Andres Segovia, C/Dr. Maranon 3, 3er piso, Cadiz, Spain.

Background: The described relationship between Alzheimer's disease (AD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) and the fact that AD has no succesful treatment has led to the study of antidiabetic drugs that may limit or slow down AD pathology.

Main Body: Although T2D treatment has evident limitations, options are increasing including glucagon-like peptide 1 analogs. Among these, liraglutide (LRGT) is commonly used by T2D patients to improve β cell function and suppress glucagon to restore normoglycaemia. Read More

Neuroimage Clin 2021 Jun 4;31:102712. Epub 2021 Jun 4.

Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

This work validates the generalizability of MRI-based classification of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients and controls (CN) to an external data set and to the task of prediction of conversion to AD in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We used a conventional support vector machine (SVM) and a deep convolutional neural network (CNN) approach based on structural MRI scans that underwent either minimal pre-processing or more extensive pre-processing into modulated gray matter (GM) maps. Classifiers were optimized and evaluated using cross-validation in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI; 334 AD, 520 CN). Read More

Neuroimage 2021 Jun 9;238:118259. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Department of Radiology, Mayo Clinic and Foundation, 200 First Street SW, Rochester 55905, MN, USA.

Since tau PET tracers were introduced, investigators have quantified them using a wide variety of automated methods. As longitudinal cohort studies acquire second and third time points of serial within-person tau PET data, determining the best pipeline to measure change has become crucial. We compared a total of 415 different quantification methods (each a combination of multiple options) according to their effects on a) differences in annual SUVR change between clinical groups, and b) longitudinal measurement repeatability as measured by the error term from a linear mixed-effects model. Read More

Neuroimage 2021 Jun 9;238:118253. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Institute of Bioengineering, Center for Neuroprosthetics, EPFL, Geneva, Switzerland; Department of Radiology and Medical Informatics, University of Geneva (UNIGE), Geneva, Switzerland. Electronic address:

Brain connectome fingerprinting is rapidly rising as a novel influential field in brain network analysis. Yet, it is still unclear whether connectivity fingerprints could be effectively used for mapping and predicting disease progression from human brain data. We hypothesize that dysregulation of brain activity in disease would reflect in worse subject identification. Read More

Neuroimage 2021 Jun 9;238:118214. Epub 2021 Jun 9.

Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, Learning & Research Building at Southmead Hospital, Bristol BS10 5NB, UK; Clinical Neurosciences, North Bristol NHS Trust, Bristol, UK.

A better understanding of early brain changes that precede loss of independence in diseases like Alzheimer's disease (AD) is critical for development of disease-modifying therapies. Quantitative MRI, such as T2 relaxometry, can identify microstructural changes relevant to early stages of pathology. Recent evidence suggests heterogeneity of T2 may be a more informative MRI measure of early pathology than absolute T2. Read More