View clinical trials related to Mild Cognitive Impairment.
Filter by:Apathy, a profound loss of initiative and motivation, is often seen in older Veterans with memory problems. Apathy leads to serious health problems, increases dependency, and caregiver burden. If untreated, apathy hastens the progression to frank dementia. In a pilot study, the investigators found that apathy, working memory, and function can be restored using magnetic stimulation in some but not all older Veterans. The reason for this variation is unknown. The investigators propose a three-phase study in 125 older Veterans with mild memory problems. Their motivation, memory, and function will be measured periodically. Veterans with apathy that are eligible for treatment will receive either real or sham magnetic stimulation to the front part of their brain over 20 sessions. Genetic testing and biomarkers will be used to differentiate those who respond to magnetic stimulation from those who do not. Impact on function, quality of life, and rates of progression to dementia will also be studied. A project modification was obtained to conduct a cross-sectional study, the COVID Dementia study. The cross-sectional study will examine the effect of the pandemic on MCI and AD patients and their caregivers ("individual COVID-related factors" such as, personally infected, death of a friend/family member, economic hardship, disruption in care, isolation), barriers to telehealth, caregiver distress, NPS, cognition (including onset of delirium), and function. Our goal is to develop a multi-pronged, remotely deliverable intervention to address consequences of healthcare disruptions in older Veterans with cognitive impairment. Aim 1. To explore the association between COVID-related factors and neuropsychiatric symptoms in individuals with MCI and AD. Hypothesis: The number of COVID-related factors endorsed by caregivers will be positively correlated with the severity of NPI-Q in individuals with MCI and AD. Aim 2. To assess cognition (telephonic version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment; tMoCA12, and daily function (Functional Activities Questionnaire; FAQ13). Hypothesis: The number of COVID-related factors will be positively correlated with the severity of cognitive and functional deficits in individuals with MCI and AD. Aim 3. To explore the associations among COVID-related factors and caregiver distress. Hypothesis: Caregiver resilience and perceived social support will modify the association between COVID-related factors and severity of distress in caregivers.
Memory and cognitive declines are associated with normal brain aging but are also precursors to dementia, in particular the so called the pandemic of the century, Alzheimer's disease. While currently there is no cure or "vaccine" against dementia, there are hopes to delay the onset of the disease by living a brain-healthy life style. The proposed research offers a novel approach to prevent dementia and age-related cognitive disorders. We propose to use our developed brain fitness APP for the aging population with dementia. The proposed APP is based on the premise of brain plasticity, and targets the brain functions that are declining with normal aging and dementia. In a pilot study, we showed very positive effects of our custom designed brain exercises to strengthen left-right side brain connectivity in older adults when used regularly. Leveraging our previous design, we have developed an end-user product with additional features and enhanced user interface and user experience that will allow it to be used for neuro-cognitive rehabilitation by an individual without supervision The proposed APP will be tested on 30 individuals with cognitive impairment. Additionally, participants can receive an optional electrical stimulation called transcranial alternating current stimulation. This applies an alternating current to a person's brain by two electrodes placed on the scalp. The participants, who choose this option, will receive simultaneous stimulation during the brain exercise tutored sessions. Studies have shown that simultaneous application of the electrical stimulation and cognitive exercises further enhances the cognitive function by boosting the working memory improvement. Thus, this may lead to further improvements from any potential positive effects of the brain exercises. We anticipate the frequent use of the proposed APP will help to slow and even reverse the progression of the cognition decline in individuals with mild cognitive impairment or dementia.
This is a pilot study of non-invasive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to improve memory in healthy adults. It will also examine treating memory deficits in older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a condition that frequently precedes Alzheimer's disease (AD. The study will test whether a form of non-invasive brain stimulation repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can improve memory abilities in healthy young adults, healthy older adults, and older adults with aMCI by retuning memory-related brain networks. This study is a key first step which will support the long-term goal of treating memory deficits in neurological patients. It is expected that rTMS will improve memory abilities in all participants, and that the improvements in memory will be attributable to changes in the connectivity of memory-related brain networks.
In this multi-center study, the investigators plan to develop a simple blood-based test for early detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The test is based on a single injection of Pramlintide, an amylin analogue and FDA-approved drug currently used for treatment of diabetes. The investigative team has provided evidence in humans with full-blown AD and AD-relevant mouse models that a single injection of Pramlintide transiently renders the blood brain barrier (BBB) more permeable to Amyloidbeta (Aß) peptides, allowing their efflux from the brain compartment into the blood. This Aß efflux causes a corresponding transient elevation of blood levels of Aß, the magnitude of which the applicants believe is proportional to the brain amyloid load as determined by AV-45 PET. The measured difference in the level of plasma Aß taken just before and a short time after injection should reveal the magnitude of the transient increase in blood Aß levels. Supportive preliminary data comes from later stage (full-blown) AD patients with more in-depth background studies in Tg2576 and 5X Familial Alzheimer's Disease (FAD) mouse models. If successful for use as an early AD (i.e., at the Mild Cognitive Impairment [MCI] stage) biomarker, this could be a game-changer for both early AD diagnostics and clinical trials aimed at identifying and testing the efficacy of drugs useful for treatment of AD at early stages. If Pramlintide is effective in releasing mobile pools of Aß from the brain into the blood, this could also have some therapeutic potential, with the goal of reducing brain amyloid load. Three groups of particpants will be studied: 1) amnestic MCI with or without positive AD imaging pathology, 2) probable AD with positive imaging AD pathology, and 3) controls who have normal cognition and do not have memory complaints.
The Longitudinal Early-onset Alzheimer's Disease Study (LEADS) is a non-randomized, natural history, non-treatment study designed to look at disease progression in individuals with early onset cognitive impairment. Clinical, cognitive, imaging, biomarker, and genetic characteristics will be assessed across three cohorts: (1) early onset Alzheimer's Disease (EOAD) participants, (2) early onset non-Alzheimer's Disease (EOnonAD) participants, and (3) cognitively normal (CN) control participants.
Muscle relaxation has been reported to be effective in alleviating anxiety and agitation symptoms in patients with dementia, but no studies have examined the effects of muscle relaxation therapy on cognitive function changes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to compare and validate the improvement of cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment and early alzheimer's dementia aged 50 to 85 years after performing muscle relaxation machine massage regularly.
Elderly humans have an increased risk of dementia which begins as mild defects in memory called mild cognitive impairment. Glutathione (GSH), a key endogenous antioxidant has been linked to cognition. This exploratory study will investigate mechanisms linked to GSH for cognitive impairment (and improvement) by studying humans with mild cognitive impairment who will be evaluated 12-weeks after receiving either N-acetylcysteine and glycine (GSH precursors), or receiving alanine, and a further 12-weeks after stopping these supplements.
The Brain Energy for Amyloid Transformation in AD (Alzheimer's disease) or BEAT-AD study will compare the effects of a ketogenic low-carbohydrate diet and a low-fat diet in adults with mild cognitive impairment. The data collected will help determine whether diet interventions induce changes in cognitive function, cerebral blood flow, and levels of certain proteins and hormones in body fluids. The study will include volunteers who have mild cognitive impairment, who will be randomly assigned to receive either a ketogenic low-carbohydrate diet or a low-fat diet for 16-weeks, with follow-up assessment 8 weeks after diet completion. Study measures, clinic visits and phone sessions will occur at baseline and throughout the 24-week study. Group 2 will include volunteers who have mild cognitive impairment. This group will complete a 16-week low-fat diet study, with follow-up assessment 8 weeks after diet final completion. Study measures, clinic visits and phone sessions will occur throughout the 24-week study. Participant will follow either a low-carbohydrate or low-fat diet that will be individually planned with help from a study dietitian. After completing the study diet for 16 weeks, participants will resume their normal diet. The final visits will occur at week 24 (8 weeks after the completing the diet). At the end of the 24-week study, participants will be given the opportunity to meet with the study dietitian for education and assistance with planning a healthy diet.
In this observational study, the investigators aim to evaluate whether changes in the retinal and choroidal circulation, as assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and the quantification of retinal amyloid deposits using auto-fluorescence and hyperspectral retinal imaging, are correlated with the degree and subtype of dementia and with the presence or absence of a positive amyloid scan. For this purpose, patients with established Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), as well as amyloid positive and amyloid negative Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and aged matched cognitively intact patients will be included in this cross-sectional study.
Because of a shared ontogenic origin, the retina displays similarities to the brain and spinal cord in terms of anatomy, functionality, response to insult, and immunology. Hence, the retina can be approached as an integral part of the central nervous system. The occurence of ocular manifestations in several neurodegenerative pathologies, such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease, accentuates the strong relationship between eye and brain. Particularly retinal changes can present a substrate for cerebral changes in these disorders. Offering a 'window to the brain', the transparent eye enables non-invasive imaging of these changes in retinal structure and vasculature. In this project, the potential of retinal biomarkers for e.g. Alzheimer's will be explored with the aim to overcome some of the hurdles in the current management of these pathologies, mainly the lack of techniques for patient screening and early diagnosis. The aim of this clinical trial is to correlate the retinal biomarkers for Alzheimer's with neuro-imaging, and cognitive function. Integrating the results will yield non-invasive retinal biomarkers for clinical research, screening, and follow-up of disease progression in various neurodegenerative disorders.