| 1. |
- Almkvist, Ove, et al.
(författare)
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Practice effects in cognitive assessments three years later in non-carriers but not in symptom-free mutation carriers of autosomal-dominant Alzheimer's disease : Exemplifying procedural learning and memory?
- 2022
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1663-4365 .- 1663-4365. ; 14
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Practice effects (PEs) defined as an improvement of performance in cognition due to repeated assessments between sessions are well known in unimpaired individuals, while less is known about impaired cognition and particularly in latent brain disease as autosomal-dominant Alzheimer's disease. The purpose was to evaluate the general (across tests/domains) and domain-specific PE calculated as the annual rate of change (ARC) in relation to years to the estimated disease onset (YECO) and in four groups of AD: asymptomatic mutation carriers (aAD, n = 19), prodromal, i.e., symptomatic mutation carriers, criteria for AD diagnosis not fulfilled (pAD, n = 4) and mutation carriers diagnosed with AD (dAD, n = 6) as well as mutation non-carriers from the AD families serving as a healthy comparison group (HC, n = 35). Cognition was assessed at baseline and follow-up about 3 years later by 12 tests covering six domains. The aAD and HC groups were comparable at baseline in demographic characteristics (age, gender, and education), when they were in their early forties, while the pAD and dAD groups were older and cognitively impaired. The results on mean ARC for the four groups were significantly different, small, positive, and age-insensitive in the HC group, while ARC was negative and declined with time/disease advancement in AD. The differences between HC and aAD groups in mean ARC and domain-specific ARC were not significant, indicating a subtle PE in aAD in the early preclinical stage of AD. In the symptomatic stages of AD, there was no PE probably due to cognitive disease-related progression. PEs were the largest in the verbal domain in both the HC and aAD groups, indicating a relationship with cognitive vulnerability. The group-related difference in mean ARC was predominant in timekeeping tests. To conclude, the practice effect in over 3 years was suggested to be linked to procedural learning and memory.
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| 2. |
- Bellander, Martin, et al.
(författare)
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No Evidence for Improved Associative Memory Performance Following Process-Based Associative Memory Training in Older Adults
- 2017
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1663-4365 .- 1663-4365. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Studies attempting to improve episodic memory performance with strategy instructions and training have had limited success in older adults: their training gains are limited in comparison to those of younger adults and do not generalize to untrained tasks and contexts. This limited success has been partly attributed to age-related impairments in associative binding of information into coherent episodes. We therefore investigated potential training and transfer effects of process-based associative memory training (i.e., repeated practice). Thirty-nine older adults (M-age = 68.8) underwent 6 weeks of either adaptive associative memory training or item recognition training. Both groups improved performance in item memory, spatial memory (object-context binding) and reasoning. A disproportionate effect of associative memory training was only observed for item memory, whereas no training-related performance changes were observed for associative memory. Self-reported strategies showed no signs of spontaneous development of memory-enhancing associative memory strategies. Hence, the results do not support the hypothesis that process-based associative memory training leads to higher associative memory performance in older adults.
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| 3. |
- Corujo-Bolaños, Graciela, et al.
(författare)
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The block design subtest of the Wechsler adult intelligence scale as a possible non-verbal proxy of cognitive reserve
- 2023
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1663-4365 .- 1663-4365. ; 15
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: To investigate the potential of the Block design subtest of the Wechsler Adults Intelligence Scale as a non-verbal proxy of cognitive reserve.Method: A total of 391 cognitively unimpaired participants were included in this study. The association between the Block design subtest and the Information subtest (an established verbal proxy of cognitive reserve) from the WAIS, as well as the association of the two subtests with a Cognitive Reserve Questionnaire (CRQ) were tested. In addition, multiple linear regression models were conducted to investigate the association of the Block design and Information subtests with cognitive performance. The capacity of the Block design subtest to minimize the negative effect of an older age over cognitive performance was also assessed and this effect was compared with that of the Information subtest. The four cognitive domains included were: verbal memory, visual–visuospatial memory, executive-premotor functions and processing speed.Results: The Block design subtest correlated positively with both the Information subtest and the CRQ. A statistically significant association was observed between the Block design subtest and all four cognitive domains. Higher scores in the Block design subtest minimized the negative effect of aging on the cognitive domains of visual–visuospatial memory and executive-premotor functions, in a similar way to the results obtained for the Information subtest.Conclusion: The Block design subtest is significantly correlated with two established proxies of cognitive reserve: it correlates with cognitive performance and high scores in Block design have the capacity to minimize the negative effect of an older age on cognitive performance. Therefore, the results suggest that the corrected Block design subtest could be considered as a non-verbal proxy of cognitive reserve.
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| 4. |
- Dong, Yi, et al.
(författare)
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Olfactory Impairment Among Rural-Dwelling Chinese Older Adults : Prevalence and Associations With Demographic, Lifestyle, and Clinical Factors
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1663-4365 .- 1663-4365. ; 13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective: Olfactory impairment (OI) refers to decreased (hyposmia) or absent (anosmia) ability to smell. We sought to estimate the prevalence and correlates of OI among rural-dwelling Chinese older adults.Methods: This population-based cross-sectional analysis included 4,514 participants (age >= 65 years; 56.7% women) from the Multidomain Interventions to Delay Dementia and Disability in Rural China (MIND-China). The 16-item Sniffin' Sticks identification test (SSIT) was used to assess olfactory function. Olfactory impairment was defined as the SSIT score <= 10, hyposmia as SSIT score of 8-10, and anosmia as SSIT score <8. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to examine factors associated with OI. Results: The overall prevalence was 67.7% for OI, 35.3% for hyposmia, and 32.5% for anosmia. The prevalence increased with age for OI and anosmia, but not for hyposmia. The multivariable-adjusted odds ratio (OR) of OI was 2.10 (95% CI 1.69-2.61) for illiteracy and 1.41 (1.18-1.70) for elementary school (vs. middle school or above), 1.30 (1.01-1.67) for current smoking (vs. never smoking), 0.86 (0.74-0.99) for overweight and 0.73 (0.61-0.87) for obesity (vs. normal weight), 4.21 (2.23-7.94) for dementia, 1.68 (1.23-2.30) for head injury, and 1.44 (1.14-1.83) for sinonasal disease. Illiteracy in combination with either male sex or diabetes was significantly associated with an over two-fold increased OR of OI (p for interactions <0.05).Conclusion: Olfactory impairment is highly prevalent that affects over two-thirds of rural-dwelling older adults in China. OI is correlated with illiteracy, current smoking, dementia, head injury, and sinonasal disease, but negatively associated with overweight or obesity. Olfactory impairment as a potential clinical marker of neurodegenerative disorders among older adults deserves further investigation.
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| 5. |
- Ebner, Natalie C., et al.
(författare)
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Oxytocin modulates meta-mood as a function of age and sex
- 2015
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1663-4365 .- 1663-4365. ; 7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Attending to and understanding one's own feelings are components of meta mood and constitute important socio-affective skills across the entire lifespan. Growing evidence suggests a modulatory role of the neuropeptide oxytocin on various socio-affective processes. Going beyond previous work that almost exclusively examined young men and perceptions of emotions in others, the current study investigated effects of intranasal oxytocin on meta-mood in young and older men and women. In a double-blind between-group design, participants were randomly assigned to self-administer either intranasal oxytocin or a placebo before responding to items from the Trait Meta Mood Scale (TMMS) about attention to feelings and clarity of feelings. In contrast to older women, oxytocin relative to placebo increased attention to feelings in older men. Oxytocin relative to placebo enhanced meta-mood in young female participants but reduced it in older female participants. This pattern of findings supports an age- and sex-differential modulatory function of the neuropeptide oxytocin on meta-mood, possibly associated with neurobiological differences with age and sex.
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| 6. |
- Eek, Tom, et al.
(författare)
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Odor Recognition Memory in Parkinson's Disease : A Systematic Review
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1663-4365 .- 1663-4365. ; 13
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Olfactory impairment is a central non-motor symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD). Previous studies have demonstrated that olfactory dysfunction is associated with mental illness and impaired cognition. The frequently investigated olfactory functions are odor detection, discrimination, and identification. However, few studies have focused on odor recognition memory (ORM). ORM tasks involves episodic memory which therefore can facilitate the detection of dementia among patients with PD and consequently adjust their treatment. Thus, the aim of this systematic review is to summarize the existing research on ORM in PD. Databases and reference lists were used for data collection. Studies were included in the review if they met the eligibility criteria derived from the PICOS-framework. Quality evaluation of the studies was based on the STROBE-statement. Six studies with small samples were included in the analysis which demonstrated the scarce research on the subject. The studies targeting ORM were heterogenous and involved two main tasks: odor recognition and odor matching. The synthesis of the data demonstrated that PD patients performed significantly lower than controls on both tasks, especially on odor matching task. Only the odor recognition task exhibited a difference between patients with PD vs. Alzheimer's disease (AD). PD patients performed significantly better than AD patients. The findings based on the available limited data support the notion that odor recognition task can be of importance in identifying Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). To investigate this hypothesis, future research needs to include larger samples of PD, PDD and AD patients executing the same odor recognition task.
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| 7. |
- Gallo, Federico, et al.
(författare)
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Cognitive Trajectories and Dementia Risk : A Comparison of Two Cognitive Reserve Measures.
- 2021
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. - : Frontiers Media S.A.. - 1663-4365 .- 1663-4365. ; 13
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and Objectives: Cognitive reserve (CR) is meant to account for the mismatch between brain damage and cognitive decline or dementia. Generally, CR has been operationalized using proxy variables indicating exposure to enriching activities (activity-based CR). An alternative approach defines CR as residual variance in cognition, not explained by the brain status (residual-based CR). The aim of this study is to compare activity-based and residual-based CR measures in their association with cognitive trajectories and dementia. Furthermore, we seek to examine if the two measures modify the impact of brain integrity on cognitive trajectories and if they predict dementia incidence independent of brain status.Methods: We used data on 430 older adults aged 60+ from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen, followed for 12 years. Residual-based reserve was computed from a regression predicting episodic memory with a brain-integrity index incorporating six structural neuroimaging markers (white-matter hyperintensities volume, whole-brain gray matter volume, hippocampal volume, lateral ventricular volume, lacunes, and perivascular spaces), age, and sex. Activity-based reserve incorporated education, work complexity, social network, and leisure activities. Cognition was assessed with a composite of perceptual speed, semantic memory, letter-, and category fluency. Dementia was clinically diagnosed in accordance with DSM-IV criteria. Linear mixed models were used for cognitive change analyses. Interactions tested if reserve measures modified the association between brain-integrity and cognitive change. Cox proportional hazard models, adjusted for brain-integrity index, assessed dementia risk.Results: Both reserve measures were associated with cognitive trajectories [β × time (top tertile, ref.: bottom tertile) = 0.013; 95% CI: -0.126, -0.004 (residual-based) and 0.011; 95% CI: -0.001, 0.024, (activity-based)]. Residual-based, but not activity-based reserve mitigated the impact of brain integrity on cognitive decline [β (top tertile × time × brain integrity) = -0.021; 95% CI: -0.043, 0.001] and predicted 12-year dementia incidence, after accounting for the brain-integrity status [HR (top tertile) = 0.23; 95% CI: 0.09, 0.58].Interpretation: The operationalization of reserve based on residual cognitive performance may represent a more direct measure of CR than an activity-based approach. Ultimately, the two models of CR serve largely different aims. Accounting for brain integrity is essential in any model of reserve.
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| 8. |
- Hedner, Margareta, et al.
(författare)
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Age-Related Olfactory Decline is Associated with the BDNF Val66met Polymorphism : Evidence from a Population-Based Study
- 2010
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1663-4365. ; 2:7, s. 24-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The present study investigates the effect of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) val66met polymorphism on change in olfactory function in a large scale, longitudinal population-based sample (n = 836). The subjects were tested on a 13 item force-choice odor identification test on two test occasions over a 5-year-interval. Sex, education, health-related factors, and semantic ability were controlled for in the statistical analyses. Results showed an interaction effect of age and BDNF val66met on olfactory change, such that the magnitude of olfactory decline in the older age cohort (70–90years old at baseline) was larger for the val homozygote carriers than for the met carriers. The older met carriers did not display larger age-related decline in olfactory function compared to the younger group. The BDNF val66met polymorphism did not affect the rate of decline in the younger age cohort (45–65years). The findings are discussed in the light of the proposed roles of BDNF in neural development and maintenance.
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| 9. |
- More, Jamileth, et al.
(författare)
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N-Acetylcysteine Prevents the Spatial Memory Deficits and the Redox-Dependent RyR2 Decrease Displayed by an Alzheimer's Disease Rat Model
- 2018
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1663-4365 .- 1663-4365. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We have previously reported that primary hippocampal neurons exposed to synaptotoxic amyloid beta oligomers (A beta Os), which are likely causative agents of Alzheimer's disease (AD), exhibit abnormal Ca2+ signals, mitochondrial dysfunction and defective structural plasticity. Additionally, A beta Os-exposed neurons exhibit a decrease in the protein content of type-2 ryanodine receptor (RyR2) Ca2+ channels, which exert critical roles in hippocampal synaptic plasticity and spatial memory processes. The antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) prevents these deleterious effects of A beta Os in vitro. The main contribution of the present work is to show that A beta Os injections directly into the hippocampus, by engaging oxidation-mediated reversible pathways significantly decreased RyR2 protein content but increased single RyR2 channel activation by Ca2+ and caused considerable spatial memory deficits. A beta Os injections into the CA3 hippocampal region impaired rat performance in the Oasis maze spatial memory task, decreased hippocampal glutathione levels and overall content of plasticity-related proteins (c-Fos, Arc, and RyR2) and increased ERK1/2 phosphorylation. In contrast, in hippocampus-derived mitochondria-associated membranes (MAM) A beta Os injections increased RyR2 levels. Rats fed with NAC for 3-weeks prior to A beta Os injections displayed comparable redox potential, RyR2 and Arc protein contents, similar ERK1/2 phosphorylation and RyR2 single channel activation by Ca2+ as saline-injected (control) rats. NAC-fed rats subsequently injected with A beta Os displayed the same behavior in the spatial memory task as control rats. Based on the present in vivo results, we propose that redox-sensitive neuronal RyR2 channels partake in the mechanism underlying A beta Os-induced memory disruption in rodents.
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| 10. |
- Müller, Karolina, et al.
(författare)
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Validation of Online Versions of Tinnitus Questionnaires Translated into Swedish
- 2016
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Ingår i: Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. - : Frontiers Media SA. - 1663-4365 .- 1663-4365. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Due to the lack of objective measures for assessing tinnitus, its clinical evaluation largely relies on the use of questionnaires and psychoacoustic tests. A global assessment of tinnitus burden would largely benefit from holistic approaches that not only incorporate measures of tinnitus but also take into account associated fears, emotional aspects (stress, anxiety, and depression), and quality of life. In Sweden, only a few instruments are available for assessing tinnitus, and the existing tools lack validation. Therefore, we translated a set of questionnaires into Swedish and evaluated their reliability and validity in a group of tinnitus subjects. Methods: We translated the English versions of the Tinnitus Functional Index (TFI), the Fear of Tinnitus Questionnaire (FTQ), the Tinnitus Catastrophizing Scale (TCS), the Perceived Stress Questionnaire (PSQ-30), and the Tinnitus Sample Case History Questionnaire (TSCHQ) into Swedish. These translations were delivered via the internet with the already existing Swedish versions of the Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Hyperacusis Questionnaire (HQ), and the World Health Organization Quality of Life questionnaire (WHOQoL-BREF). Psychometric properties were evaluated by means of internal consistency [Cronbach's alpha (α)] and test-retest reliability across a 9-week interval [Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), Cohen's kappa] in order to establish construct as well as clinical validity using a sample of 260 subjects from a population-based cohort. Results: Internal consistency was acceptable for all questionnaires (α > 0.7) with the exception of the "social relationships" subscale of the WHOQoL-BREF. Test-retest reliability was generally acceptable (ICC > 0.70, Cohens kappa > 0.60) for the tinnitus-related questionnaires, except for the TFI "sense of control" subscale and 15 items of the TSCHQ. Spearmen rank correlations showed that almost all questionnaires on tinnitus are significantly related, indicating that these questionnaires measure different aspects of the same construct. The data supported good clinical validity of the tinnitus-related questionnaires. Conclusion: Our results suggest that most Swedish adaptations of the questionnaires are suitable for clinical and research settings and should facilitate the assessment of treatment outcomes using a more holistic approach by including measures of tinnitus fears, emotional burden, and quality of life.
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