1. |
- Delios, A., et al.
(author)
-
Examining the generalizability of research findings from archival data
- 2022
-
In: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. - : Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. - 0027-8424 .- 1091-6490. ; 119:30
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This initiative examined systematically the extent to which a large set of archival research findings generalizes across contexts. We repeated the key analyses for 29 original strategic management effects in the same context (direct reproduction) as well as in 52 novel time periods and geographies; 45% of the reproductions returned results matching the original reports together with 55% of tests in different spans of years and 40% of tests in novel geographies. Some original findings were associated with multiple new tests. Reproducibility was the best predictor of generalizability-for the findings that proved directly reproducible, 84% emerged in other available time periods and 57% emerged in other geographies. Overall, only limited empirical evidence emerged for context sensitivity. In a forecasting survey, independent scientists were able to anticipate which effects would find support in tests in new samples.
|
|
2. |
- Akinci, M., et al.
(author)
-
Prepandemic Alzheimer Disease Biomarkers and Anxious-Depressive Symptoms During the COVID-19 Confinement in Cognitively Unimpaired Adults
- 2022
-
In: NEUROLOGY. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 0028-3878 .- 1526-632X. ; 99:14
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background and Objectives Increased anxious-depressive symptomatology is observed in the preclinical stage of Alzheimer disease (AD), which may accelerate disease progression. We investigated whether beta-amyloid, cortical thickness in medial temporal lobe structures, neuroinflammation, and sociodemographic factors were associated with greater anxious-depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 confinement. Methods This retrospective observational study included cognitively unimpaired older adults from the Alzheimer's and Families cohort, the majority with a family history of sporadic AD. Participants performed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) during the COVID-19 confinement. A subset had available retrospective (on average: 2.4 years before) HADS assessment, amyloid [F-18] flutemetamol PET and structural MRI scans, and CSF markers of neuroinflammation (interleukin-6 [IL-6], triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2, and glial fibrillary acidic protein levels). We performed multivariable linear regression models to investigate the associations of prepandemic AD-related biomarkers and sociodemographic factors with HADS scores during the confinement. We further performed an analysis of covariance to adjust by participants' prepandemic anxiety-depression levels. Finally, we explored the role of stress and lifestyle changes (sleep patterns, eating, drinking, smoking habits, and medication use) on the tested associations and performed sex-stratified analyses. Results We included 921 (254 with AD biomarkers) participants. beta-amyloid positivity (B = 3.73; 95% CI = 1.1 to 6.36; p = 0.006), caregiving (B = 1.37; 95% CI 0.24-2.5; p = 0.018), sex (women: B = 1.95; 95% CI 1.1-2.79; p < 0.001), younger age (B = -0.12; 95% CI -0.18 to -0.052; p < 0.001), and lower education (B = -0.16; 95% CI -0.28 to -0.042; p = 0.008) were associated with greater anxious-depressive symptoms during the confinement. Considering prepandemic anxiety-depression levels, we further observed an association between lower levels of CSF IL-6 (B = -5.11; 95% CI -10.1 to -0.13; p = 0.044) and greater HADS scores. The results were independent of stress-related variables and lifestyle changes. Stratified analysis revealed that the associations were mainly driven by women. Discussion Our results link AD-related pathophysiology and neuroinflammation with greater anxious-depressive symptomatology during the COVID-19-related confinement, notably in women. AD pathophysiology may increase neuropsychiatric symptomatology in response to stressors. This association may imply a worse clinical prognosis in people at risk for AD after the pandemic and thus deserves to be considered by clinicians.
|
|
3. |
- Brugulat-Serrat, Anna, et al.
(author)
-
APOE -ε4 modulates the association between regional amyloid deposition and cognitive performance in cognitively unimpaired middle-aged individuals
- 2023
-
In: EJNMMI Research. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2191-219X. ; 13:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Purpose: To determine whether the APOE-ε4 allele modulates the relationship between regional β-amyloid (Aβ) accumulation and cognitive change in middle-aged cognitively unimpaired (CU) participants. Methods: The 352 CU participants (mean aged 61.1 [4.7] years) included completed two cognitive assessments (average interval 3.34 years), underwent [18F]flutemetamol Aβ positron emission tomography (PET), T1w magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), as well as APOE genotyping. Global and regional Aβ PET positivity was assessed across five regions-of-interest by visual reading (VR) and regional Centiloids. Linear regression models were developed to examine the interaction between regional and global Aβ PET positivity and APOE-ε4 status on longitudinal cognitive change assessed with the Preclinical Alzheimer’s Cognitive Composite (PACC), episodic memory, and executive function, after controlling for age, sex, education, cognitive baseline scores, and hippocampal volume. Results: In total, 57 participants (16.2%) were VR+ of whom 41 (71.9%) were APOE-ε4 carriers. No significant APOE-ε4*global Aβ PET interactions were associated with cognitive change for any cognitive test. However, APOE-ε4 carriers who were VR+ in temporal areas (n = 19 [9.81%], p = 0.04) and in the striatum (n = 8 [4.14%], p = 0.01) exhibited a higher decline in the PACC. The temporal areas findings were replicated when regional PET positivity was determined with Centiloid values. Regionally, VR+ in the striatum was associated with higher memory decline. As for executive function, interactions between APOE-ε4 and regional VR+ were found in temporal and parietal regions, and in the striatum. Conclusion: CU APOE-ε4 carriers with a positive Aβ PET VR in regions known to accumulate amyloid at later stages of the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) continuum exhibited a steeper cognitive decline. This work supports the contention that regional VR of Aβ PET might convey prognostic information about future cognitive decline in individuals at higher risk of developing AD. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02485730. Registered 20 June 2015 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02485730 and ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:NCT02685969. Registered 19 February 2016 https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02685969.
|
|
4. |
- Akinci, Muge, et al.
(author)
-
Subjective cognitive decline and anxious/depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic : what is the role of stress perception, stress resilience, and β-amyloid?
- 2022
-
In: Alzheimer's Research and Therapy. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1758-9193. ; 14:1
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: The COVID-19 pandemic may worsen the mental health of people reporting subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and therefore their clinical prognosis. We aimed to investigate the association between the intensity of SCD and anxious/depressive symptoms during confinement and the underlying mechanisms. Methods: Two hundred fifty cognitively unimpaired participants completed the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and SCD-Questionnaire (SCD-Q) and underwent amyloid-β positron emission tomography imaging with [18F] flutemetamol (N = 205) on average 2.4 (± 0.8) years before the COVID-19 confinement. During the confinement, participants completed the HADS, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), and an ad hoc questionnaire on worries (access to primary products, self-protection materials, economic situation) and lifestyle changes (sleep duration, sleep quality, eating habits). We investigated stress-related measurements, worries, and lifestyle changes in relation to SCD. We then conducted an analysis of covariance to investigate the association of SCD-Q with HADS scores during the confinement while controlling for pre-confinement anxiety/depression scores and demographics. Furthermore, we introduced amyloid-β positivity, PSS, and BRS in the models and performed mediation analyses to explore the mechanisms explaining the association between SCD and anxiety/depression. Results: In the whole sample, the average SCD-Q score was 4.1 (± 4.4); 70 (28%) participants were classified as SCD, and 26 (12.7%) were amyloid-β-positive. During the confinement, participants reporting SCD showed higher PSS (p = 0.035) but not BRS scores (p = 0.65) than those that did not report SCD. No differences in worries or lifestyle changes were observed. Higher SCD-Q scores showed an association with greater anxiety/depression scores irrespective of pre-confinement anxiety/depression levels (p = 0.002). This association was not significant after introducing amyloid-β positivity and stress-related variables in the model (p = 0.069). Amyloid-β positivity and PSS were associated with greater HADS irrespective of pre-confinement anxiety/depression scores (p = 0.023; p < 0.001). The association of SCD-Q with HADS was mediated by PSS (p = 0.01). Conclusions: Higher intensity of SCD, amyloid-β positivity, and stress perception showed independent associations with anxious/depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 confinement irrespective of pre-confinement anxiety/depression levels. The association of SCD intensity with anxiety/depression was mediated by stress perception, suggesting stress regulation as a potential intervention to reduce affective symptomatology in the SCD population in the face of stressors.
|
|
5. |
- Palpatzis, Eleni, et al.
(author)
-
Lifetime Stressful Events Associated with Alzheimer's Pathologies, Neuroinflammation and Brain Structure in a Risk Enriched Cohort
- 2024
-
In: ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY. - 0364-5134 .- 1531-8249.
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective: Along with the known effects of stress on brain structure and inflammatory processes, increasing evidence suggest a role of chronic stress in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We investigated the association of accumulated stressful life events (SLEs) with AD pathologies, neuroinflammation, and gray matter (GM) volume among cognitively unimpaired (CU) individuals at heightened risk of AD.MethodsThis cross-sectional cohort study included 1,290 CU participants (aged 48-77) from the ALFA cohort with SLE, lumbar puncture (n = 393), and/or structural magnetic resonance imaging (n = 1,234) assessments. Using multiple regression analyses, we examined the associations of total SLEs with cerebrospinal fluid (1) phosphorylated (p)-tau181 and A beta 1-42/1-40 ratio, (2) interleukin 6 (IL-6), and (3) GM volumes voxel-wise. Further, we performed stratified and interaction analyses with sex, history of psychiatric disease, and evaluated SLEs during specific life periods.ResultsWithin the whole sample, only childhood and midlife SLEs, but not total SLEs, were associated with AD pathophysiology and neuroinflammation. Among those with a history of psychiatric disease SLEs were associated with higher p-tau181 and IL-6. Participants with history of psychiatric disease and men, showed lower A beta 1-42/1-40 with higher SLEs. Participants with history of psychiatric disease and women showed reduced GM volumes in somatic regions and prefrontal and limbic regions, respectively.InterpretationWe did not find evidence supporting the association of total SLEs with AD, neuroinflammation, and atrophy pathways. Instead, the associations appear to be contingent on events occurring during early and midlife, sex and history of psychiatric disease. ANN NEUROL 2024
|
|