View clinical trials related to Cognitive Dysfunction.
Filter by:Background: Subcortical Vascular Dementia (VaD), consequent to deep brain small vessel disease (SVD), is the most frequent form of VaD. The term vascular mild cognitive impairment (VMCI) defines a transitional state between normal ageing and VaD. Attentional deficits are a common finding in patients affected by VMCI or subcortical VaD. At present, no drug treatment is available to prevent vascular dementia in patients with VMCI or to improve cognitive performances of this large group of patients. Cognitive rehabilitation is directed to achieve functional changes by reinforcing, strengthening, or reestablishing previously learned patterns of behavior, or establishing new patterns of cognitive activity or compensatory mechanisms. A hierarchical model of attention has been used to build the Attention Process Training-II (APT-II) programme. The APT-II programme effectiveness have been demonstrated in traumatic brain injury and post-stroke rehabilitation, but there is an increasing interest in the study of cognitive rehabilitation in pathological processes that evolve over time, such as chronic cerebrovascular diseases (CVD). Aims: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the APT-II programme could be a useful tool in the rehabilitation of attention in individuals affected by VMCI with SVD, and if so, whether the improvement in performance is generalized to functionality in daily activities and quality of life. Main Expected Results and Impact: Considering that the APT-II contains specific exercises to facilitate generalization to daily life, the skills that are learned by each patient during the rehabilitation programme should be generalized to daily activities. Furthermore, the improvement of cognitive skills should also improve patient's overall quality of life because these learned skills are applicable to real-life situations. The main expected results are: 1) an impact of APT-II on disability, everyday cognition, quality of life, and performance on attention tests at short and long term after rehabilitation programme ending as compared with standard care; 2) a reduction of the risk of transition to dementia at 1 year follow-up as compared with control group.
This study aims to assess the effect of Gilenya on brain pathology and cognitive impairment over 6, 12, and 24 months in patients with relapsing MS using MRI, clinical data, and neurological assessments. Healthy controls will also be followed over 6, 12, and 24 months using the same measures.
The purpose of this research study is to investigate the effectiveness of a technique designed to improve processing speed (i.e. the amount of time it takes to process information) in a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) population. The study is designed to study how well this technique can help people with TBI increase their processing speed and their ability to function better in everyday life.
The purpose of the study will be to determine the effects of the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) as a treatment program for individuals with Parkinson's disease-related cognitive impairment. The potential effects of the CO-OP on successful engagement in meaningful activities will be examined from participants' and live-in caregivers' perspectives. Effects of the CO-OP on participant-perceived health-related quality of life and caregiver burden will also be evaluated. Hypotheses: 1. Training with the CO-OP will have an effect or multiple effects on participation in meaningful activities and health-related quality of life for individuals with Parkinson's-related cognitive impairment. 2. Training with the CO-OP will have an effect or multiple effects on caregiver burden and health-related quality of life for caregivers of individuals with Parkinson's-related cognitive impairment.
This project will examine the relationship between physical activity levels, brain structure and memory function in adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) aged 60 to 75. The study will follow 30 adults with age-associated memory impairment or MCI over the course of 18 months. During this time, subjects' physical activity levels will be measured regularly and related to both the thickness their hippocampus and to their memory performance. Subjects will be recruited and screened for major health problems at UCLA. Physical activity will be tracked for two weeks using accelerometers at baseline and every 6 months during the study. At baseline and at the end of the study, subjects will undergo a structural MRI brain scan to measure hippocampal thickness, as well as a neuropsychological evaluation to measure memory function. The study will seek to determine the relationship between physical activity level, hippocampal thickness and memory performance in older adults with age-associated memory impairment.
Cognitive and functional decline observed in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients are related to thrombotic and/or cardioembolic events. Use of warfarin for the prevention of stroke in AF patients, despite effective, remains beyond desired levels because of interactions with food and fluctuations in blood levels. Because of a more stable anticoagulation state, Dabigatran may offer better protection against thrombotic phenomenon and, consequently, mitigate the process of cognitive and functional compromise.
This study will examine the hypothesis that changes in the cognition (i.e. thinking and memory) after anesthesia and surgery are correlated with changes in markers of Alzheimers Disease in the fluid around the brain and spinal cord (i.e. cerebrospinal fluid, or CSF), and/or changes in brain connectivity. The investigators will also examine whether different types of anesthesia have different effects on these CSF markers of Alzheimers disease, or different effects on thinking and memory after anesthesia and surgery, or differential effects on the correlation between cognitive changes and CSF marker changes.
The aim of this study is to conduct a 1-year double blind randomized control trial comparing candesartan to lisinopril in 140 individuals with hypertension and executive mild cognitive impairment in their effects on executive function, neuroimaging markers, and vascular indicators.
The purpose of this pilot study is to test whether 6 months of supervised weekly Kundalini yoga classes and a brief daily meditation homework assignment can improve memory and thinking in older adults with mild memory complaints when compared to weekly classes of memory training with daily homework assignments.
Cognitive problems are a primary concern for people with multiple sclerosis. In many cases, people with MS report these issues to be more debilitating than the motor symptoms that are targeted by most treatment strategies. For people with MS, impaired memory and thinking skills can interfere with the ability to function efficiently in multiple professional and personal roles. Finding ways to decrease, slow, or reverse declines in memory and thinking skills is a vitally important research priority. We now know that engaging in intellectually enriching activities helps protect against the negative impact of MS disease-related declines in memory and thinking. Such activities contribute to something called 'cognitive reserve,' which serves as a protection against disease-related declines in memory and thinking. Thus far, no one has created a treatment that aims to provide a concentrated 'dose' of intellectual enrichment to build cognitive reserve. The present intervention aims to do precisely this. Here, we have developed a program of enriching activities that are delivered via a personal iPad. This allows for a 12-week 'treatment' that is entirely home-based, while also providing close personal contact between participants and our study personnel, who will communicate daily via emails. Week by week, participants choose from a menu of intellectually enriching activities such that their treatment is dynamic and customizable to fit their interests. The intervention is designed to be fun, as we hope the activities will be incorporated into people's lives beyond the period of the study itself. Given what we already know about the striking benefits of cognitive reserve to protect against disease-related declines in cognitive functioning, we expect to show that treatment with a daily, intense, intellectually enriching schedule of activities results in improved thinking and memory for people with MS. We will also investigate the positive impact of our treatment on the brains of people with MS through brain scans. We expect to see evidence for a shift toward more efficient processing in the brain, changes that translate to improved memory and thinking skills.