View clinical trials related to Cognition Disorders.
Filter by:Background: Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a condition characterized by memory problems more severe than normal cognitive changes due to old age, and less severe than dementia. Reduced working memory (WM) is regarded as one of the core symptoms of an MCI-condition. Recent studies have indicated that WM can be improved trough computer based training. Objectives: The objective of the study is to evaluate if working memory training is effective in improving working memory in elderly MCI-patients. Further, to evaluate if cognitive training relates to structural changes in the white and gray matter of the brain, assessed by structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Cognitive phenotypes related to memory impairment and progression to dementia will also be investigated. Patients and Methods: The proposed study is a blinded, randomized and controlled trail that will include 90 elderly patients from a Memory Clinic diagnosed with MCI. The groups will be randomized to either training or a placebo version. The intervention is computerized working memory training performed for 45 minutes over 25 sessions. Neuropsychological assessment and structural MRI will be performed before, 6 and 12 months after training. Relevance: Currently there is no known treatment available for mild memory impairment/MCI, and few studies on specific cognitive training in MCI-patients have been performed. The proposed study has received funding from a Norwegian Health Region. If computer based training results in positive changes to memory functions in MCI patients this may represent a new, cost-effective treatment. Secondly, evaluation of training induced structural changes to grey or white matter may improve our understanding of the mechanisms behind effective cognitive interventions in MCI patients.
This is a double-blind, placebo-controlled, study testing whether LDX improves cognitive function and EF in 20 postmenopausal women who report onset of cognitive difficulties after oophorectomy (with or without subsequent chemo/adjunctive therapy). Brain imaging is included at critical time points to obtain objective data regarding effects of LDX as well as potential predictors of resilience in the face of oophorectomy.
Recent limited evidence suggests that anesthetic depth may influence postoperative cognitive outcomes, however, the mechanism between this association is unclear.
Cannabis sativa is one of the most ancient psychotropic drugs known to humanity. Although most Western countries have outlawed the use of cannabis according to the UN Convention of Psychotropic Substances, an increasing number of states in the USA, Canada and several European countries allow the medicinal use of cannabis subject to a doctor's recommendation. In oncology, the beneficial effects of treatment with the plant or treatment with medicine produced from its components are related to symptoms of the disease: pain, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite and weight loss. There is only partial clinical evidence of the efficacy of cannabis for these indications. In Israel, according to Ministry of Health regulations, permission to use medicinal cannabis for oncology patients can be given for two indications: to relieve disease-related symptoms in advanced disease or during chemotherapy treatment to reduce side effects. The indications are very wide and allow a great deal of freedom for the physician's decisions, but also cause high demands for cannabis from patients. The cannabis plant and the synthetic drugs based on the plant are considered to be medically safe. Most of the adverse effects are related to the fact that the plant and the drugs are psychoactive. Among the effects named were dizziness, euphoria, difficulty concentrating, disturbances in thinking, memory loss, and loss of coordination. Recently, we published the results of a prospective, observational study evaluating the medical necessity for medicinal cannabis treatment in cancer patients on supportive or palliative care. No significant side effects, except for memory lessening in patients with prolonged cannabis use (p=0.002), were noted. Chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) is a phenomenon of cognitive decline that patients may experience during or after chemotherapy. Memory loss and lack of concentration and attention are the most frequent symptoms encountered. Evidence suggests that CRCI is of significant concern to patients and has become a major quality-of-life issue for survivors, with estimates of its frequency ranging from 14-85% of patients. The influence of cannabis use on cognitive functions of oncology patients has never been tested. Theoretically, the combination of chemotherapy and cannabis can cause severe reduction in cognitive functions in additive or synergistic ways. However, this hypothesis, too, has never been tested, although the number of patients using cannabis during chemotherapy treatments in Israel and in other Western countries is growing. Goals of current research: The main goal of the study is to evaluate prospectively the level of reduction in cognitive function of cancer patients who are on active oncology treatments and use cannabis, comparing to a group of patients without cannabis treatment. The second goal is to identify high-risk groups for cognitive impairment due to cannabis use. Patients and Methods: The study will be comprised of a cannabis user group that will include patients who will come for guidance sessions before being issued with a cannabis license and a control group of patients on active oncology treatments, meeting the same inclusion and exclusion criteria (except for cannabis use), and willing to complete the same pack of questionnaires and cognitive tests at the same three time points. All patients will sign an informed consent form. The study includes questionnaires on quality of life (EORTC-Q30), anxiety, depression (HADS) and fatigue (BFI), and cognitive tests (MoCA, DSST, Digital Finger Tapping) administered by the nurses who give guidance on cannabis according to the patient's language (Hebrew, Russian or Arabic). The nurses will have a short guidance course on "how to do cognitive tests" and a monthly meeting with a neuropsychologist to test the quality of the cognitive tests. The questionnaires and cognitive tests will be done on the day of entering the study (T0) and after 3 (T3) and 6 months (T6). The patients will be asked not to use cannabis in the 12 hours before the interviews after 3 and 6 months. Sample size: The sample size was built to show a difference of 1.1 points in the MoCA test (half the SD for the normal population) between two groups after three months of cannabis use. The number of patients needed with a power of 80%, β≤0.05 and SD=3.1 (the SD for mild cognitive impairment in the MoCA test) is calculated at 42 patients in each group (total 84 patients). Due to an expected drop-out of 20%, the number of patients to be included in the study is 101.
The main objective of this study is to look for the interest forecast of the IPS as infra-clinical cardiovascular marker in the prediction of a change of the cognitive functions (MCI) at the elderly of 70 and more years old without clinical cardiovascular pathology.
Preview research reports evidence of cognitive plasticity among individuals with amnestic Mild cognitive Impairment, and small-size studies have suggest that this population can benefit from memory training. This project intends to assess the efficacy of cognitive training in persons with MCI with a randomized controlled design. The hypothesis is that cognitive training can improve memory performance for persons with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and this improvement can be maintained over time.
Given that the tocotrienols have been shown to possess neuroprotective effects and that both type 1 and type 2 diabetes can lead to peripheral neuropathy and cognitive impairment, the present study aims to determine the beneficial effects of tocotrienols in ameliorating such neurological related events in both type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients.
Olfactory identification deficits occur in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), are associated with disease severity, predict conversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to AD and are associated with healthy elderly subjects developing MCI. Odor (olfactory) identification deficits may reflect degeneration of cholinergic inputs to the olfactory bulb and other olfactory brain regions. Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (ACheI) like donepezil show modest effects in improving cognition but can be associated with adverse effects and increased burden and costs because of the need for prolonged, often lifelong, treatment. Converging findings on odor identification test performance (UPSIT, scratch and sniff 40-item test) from four pilot studies, including two of our own, suggest that acute change in the UPSIT in response to an anticholinergic challenge (atropine nasal spray), incremental change over 8 weeks, and even the baseline UPSIT score by itself, may predict cognitive improvement with ACheI treatment in MCI and AD. If change in odor identification deficits can help to identify which patients should receive ACheI treatment, this simple inexpensive approach will advance the goal of improving personalized treatment, improve selection and monitoring of patients for ACheI treatment, reduce needless ACheI exposure with risk of side effects, and decrease health care costs.
This is a steering group approved substudy to the Target Temperature Management trial (TTM, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01020916). TTM compares the effect of two strictly controlled temperature regimes for survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. The primary aim of this sub-study is to compare the amount of cognitive impairment in cardiac arrest survivors treated with 33 degrees and 36 degrees and with a matched group of control patients with myocardial infarction. Our secondary aims are: - To investigate the impact of cognitive impairment on our patients' ability to participate in society and their health related quality of life. - To investigate the relationship between our patients cognitive impairments and their relatives/informants health related quality of life and feelings of burden. - To test the hypothesis that the simple cognitive screening battery used in the TTM main trial is sensitive enough to detect all patients with significant cognitive disability.
Hip fractures incidence grows rapidly with the aging of the population. After indicated surgical treatment, hip fracture patients experience high rates of postoperative complications, postoperative delirium (PD), postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD), leading to poor postoperative recovery during hospitalization, which can cause disability, distress for both patients and their families, are associated with other medical complications and account for significant additional health care costs. We currently use dexmedetomidine in elderly patients with hip fractures undergoing hip hemi-arthroplasty in order to improve postoperative recovery and prevent and treating PD and POCD. Dexmedetomidine is a drug used for sedation in critically ill patients that provides some pain relief and controls the bodies response to stress. The sedation produced by dexmedetomidine appears more similar to natural sleep than any other drug used for anesthesia and postoperative sedation. Data suggesting that dexmedetomidine can prevent delirium following cardiac surgery and the developing understanding of the causes of PD and POCD suggest that dexmedetomidine will be particularly effective.