Frontiers in dementiaPub Date : 2024-06-21eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frdem.2024.1380015
Iman Beheshti, Olivier Potvin, Mahsa Dadar, Simon Duchesne
{"title":"Cerebrovascular lesion loads and accelerated brain aging: insights into the cognitive spectrum.","authors":"Iman Beheshti, Olivier Potvin, Mahsa Dadar, Simon Duchesne","doi":"10.3389/frdem.2024.1380015","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frdem.2024.1380015","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) and cerebral microbleeds are widespread among aging population and linked with cognitive deficits in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), vascular MCI (V-MCI), and Alzheimer's disease without (AD) or with a vascular component (V-AD). In this study, we aimed to investigate the association between brain age, which reflects global brain health, and cerebrovascular lesion load in the context of pathological aging in diverse forms of clinically-defined neurodegenerative conditions.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We computed brain-predicted age difference (brain-PAD: predicted brain age minus chronological age) in the Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia cohort of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging including 70 cognitively intact elderly (CIE), 173 MCI, 88 V-MCI, 50 AD, and 47 V-AD using T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. We used a well-established automated methodology that leveraged fluid attenuated inversion recovery MRIs for precise quantification of WMH burden. Additionally, cerebral microbleeds were detected utilizing a validated segmentation tool based on the ResNet50 network, utilizing routine T1-weighted, T2-weighted, and T2<sup>*</sup> MRI scans.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The mean brain-PAD in the CIE cohort was around zero, whereas the four categories showed a significantly higher mean brain-PAD compared to CIE, except MCI group. A notable association trend between brain-PAD and WMH loads was observed in aging and across the spectrum of cognitive impairment due to AD, but not between brain-PAD and microbleed loads.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>WMHs were associated with faster brain aging and should be considered as a risk factor which imperils brain health in aging and exacerbate brain abnormalities in the context of neurodegeneration of presumed AD origin. Our findings underscore the significance of novel research endeavors aimed at elucidating the etiology, prevention, and treatment of WMH in the area of brain aging.</p>","PeriodicalId":520000,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in dementia","volume":"3 ","pages":"1380015"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11285662/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141857587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Frontiers in dementiaPub Date : 2024-06-18eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frdem.2024.1423957
Chukwuanugo Ogbuagu, Ekenechukwu Ogbuagu, Obiageli Emelumadu, Uzoma Okereke, Irene Okeke, Godswill Chigbo, Katherine L Possin, Isabel E Allen, Elena Tsoy, Richard Uwakwe
{"title":"Cultural adaptation of the brain health assessment for early detection of cognitive impairment in Southeast Nigeria.","authors":"Chukwuanugo Ogbuagu, Ekenechukwu Ogbuagu, Obiageli Emelumadu, Uzoma Okereke, Irene Okeke, Godswill Chigbo, Katherine L Possin, Isabel E Allen, Elena Tsoy, Richard Uwakwe","doi":"10.3389/frdem.2024.1423957","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frdem.2024.1423957","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>The aging population in developing countries demands parallel improvements in brain health assessment services to mitigate stigma, promote healthy aging, and diagnose cognitive impairments including dementia in primary health care (PHC) facilities. The lack of culturally appropriate cognitive assessment tools in PHC facilities delays early detection. This study aims to culturally adapt a brief digital cognitive assessment tool for PHC professionals in Southeast Nigeria.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A total of 30 participants (15 healthcare workers HCW and 15 community members) were selected to be culturally representative of the community. We completed focus groups and pilot testing to evaluate and refine the Brain Health Assessment (BHA) a subset of tools from the Tablet-based Cognitive Assessment Tool (TabCAT) known to be sensitive to cognitive impairment in other settings. We examined BHA subtests across local languages (Pidgin and Igbo) spoken at two geriatric clinics in Anambra State Southeast Nigeria.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Following structured approaches in focus groups, adaptations were made to the Favorites (memory) and Line Length (visuospatial) subtests based on their input. Participants found the new adaptations to have good construct validity for the region.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The BHA subtests showed content validity for future work needed to validate the tool for detecting early cognitive changes associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease in PHC settings. The use of culturally adapted and concise digital cognitive assessment tools relevant to healthcare professionals in Southeast Nigeria's PHCs is advocated.</p>","PeriodicalId":520000,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in dementia","volume":"3 ","pages":"1423957"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11285541/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141857588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Frontiers in dementiaPub Date : 2024-06-17eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frdem.2024.1404841
Ibtisam Al-Musawi, Bethany H Dennis, Gavin J Clowry, Fiona E N LeBeau
{"title":"Evidence for prodromal changes in neuronal excitability and neuroinflammation in the hippocampus in young alpha-synuclein (A30P) transgenic mice.","authors":"Ibtisam Al-Musawi, Bethany H Dennis, Gavin J Clowry, Fiona E N LeBeau","doi":"10.3389/frdem.2024.1404841","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frdem.2024.1404841","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Neuronal hyperexcitability and neuroinflammation are thought to occur at early stages in a range of neurodegenerative diseases. Neuroinflammation, notably activation of microglia, has been identified as a potential prodromal marker of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). Using a transgenic mouse model of DLB that over-expresses human mutant (A30P) alpha-synuclein (hα-syn) we have investigated whether early neuroinflammation is evident in the hippocampus in young pre-symptomatic animals.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Previous studies have shown early hyperexcitability in the hippocampal CA3 region in male A30P mice at 2-4 months of age, therefore, in the current study we have immunostained this region for markers of neuronal activity (c-Fos), reactive astrocytes (glial fibrillary acidic protein, GFAP), microglia (ionizing calcium binding adapter protein 1, Iba-1) and reactive microglia (inducible nitric oxide synthase, iNOS).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found an interesting biphasic change in the expression of c-Fos in A30P mice with high expression at 1 month, consistent with early onset of hyperexcitability, but lower expression from 2-4 months in male A30P mice compared to wild-type (WT) controls, possibly indicating chronic hyperexcitability. Neuroinflammation was indicated by significant increases in the % area of GFAP and the number of Iba-1+ cells that expressed iNOS immunoreactivity in the CA3 region in 2-4 months A30P male mice compared to WT controls. A similar increase in % area of GFAP was observed in female A30P mice, however, the Iba-1 count was not different between female WT and A30P mice. In WT mice aged 2-4 months only 4.6% of Iba-1+ cells co-expressed iNOS. In contrast, in age matched A30P mice 87% of cells co-expressed Iba-1 and iNOS. Although there was no difference in GFAP immunoreactivity at 1 month, Iba-1/iNOS co-expression was also increased in a cohort of 1 month old A30P mice.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>Abnormal hα-syn expression in A30P mice caused early changes in network excitability, as indicated by c-Fos expression, and neuroinflammation which might contribute to disease progression.</p>","PeriodicalId":520000,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in dementia","volume":"3 ","pages":"1404841"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11285622/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141857589","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Frontiers in dementiaPub Date : 2024-03-08eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3389/frdem.2024.1328874
Dorothee Oberdhan, Andrew Palsgrove, Christy Houle, Teya Lovell, A Alex Levine, Terry Frangiosa, Ginny Biggar, Meryl Comer
{"title":"Care partner evaluation of the behaviors in the Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory.","authors":"Dorothee Oberdhan, Andrew Palsgrove, Christy Houle, Teya Lovell, A Alex Levine, Terry Frangiosa, Ginny Biggar, Meryl Comer","doi":"10.3389/frdem.2024.1328874","DOIUrl":"10.3389/frdem.2024.1328874","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Agitation is a common symptom in patients with Alzheimer's dementia. But agitation can be a heterogeneous symptom, encompassing a diverse array of behaviors exhibited by patients. The Cohen-Mansfield Agitation Inventory (CMAI) is a 29-item scale that is used to systematically assess the frequency and severity of agitation in older adults as rated by a primary caregiver. The CMAI was originally designed for use by professional care givers in institutional care settings. Alzheimer's dementia, however, is associated with a significant burden on family members, who provide the majority of care, and other informal care partners.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Our qualitative study aimed to assess the accuracy and applicability of the CMAI according to the needs and perceptions of non-professional care partners. Specifically, we wanted to determine if the behaviors included in the instrument reflect: (a) the care partner's experience with agitation in Alzheimer's dementia patients, (b) how the behaviors and their frequency are related to the perception of agitation severity, and (c) what changes in agitation behaviors are meaningful to care partners. We interviewed 30 care partners for patients with Alzheimer's dementia in the United States.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The care partners confirmed all behaviors listed in the CMAI as relevant. The behaviors reflect a spectrum of severity, with aggressive behaviors considered more severe than non-aggressive behaviors and physical behaviors generally considered more severe than verbal behaviors. Any reduction or increase in the frequency of a behavior was meaningful to care partners. Generally, a change from physical to verbal behaviors and aggressive to non-aggressive was considered a meaningful improvement while a change from verbal to physical and non-aggressive to aggressive was considered a meaningful worsening.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>The CMAI appropriately captures relevant behaviors of agitation in Alzheimer's dementia and provides insight into the relative improvement or worsening of agitation symptoms.</p>","PeriodicalId":520000,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in dementia","volume":"3 ","pages":"1328874"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-03-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11285564/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141857586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}