View clinical trials related to Aphasia, Primary Progressive.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of 10 sessions of anodal transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS - 1 mA) applied to left Cortex DorsoLateral PreFrontal (CDLPF) of Alzheimer's or Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) patients compared to the application of a placebo tDCS (sham procedure) on cognitive functions, which are evaluated at short term (1 week post-treatment) and mild term (3 weeks post-treatment). After unblinding, patients who received placebo treatment could be received active tDCS.
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a progressive neurodegenerative illness that affects the frontal and anterior temporal lobes of the brain. Changes in behavior, including agitation, aggression, and repetitive behaviors, are common symptoms in FTD. The investigators currently do not have good medications to treat these symptoms in FTD, and the medications the investigators use often have side effects. In this project, the investigators will test the use of low-dose lithium, compared to a placebo pill, for the treatment of behavioral symptoms in FTD. Lithium greatly reduces the behavioral symptoms of bipolar disorder, and many have found low-dose lithium to be well-tolerated in patients with dementia. Lithium appears to inhibit the creation of a protein involved in many cases of FTD called tau.
This retrospective study is a more extensive, confirmatory analysis of the cognitive and functional outcomes initially seen in 2 groups of MCI/dementia patients in Springfield, MA and compares specialized dementia care and a comprehensive treatment approach versus usual care delivered in a non-specialist setting. The first group of patients (n= 328) was seen by a dementia specialist, who utilized a standardized assessment and treatment protocol (CNS). This included comprehensive identification and treatment of hypoxia, sleep-disorders, and other cognitively-impairing metabolic conditions as well as maximally- dosed FDA-approved medications for dementia, depression, and PBA. The second group of patients (n= 280) was seen by non-dementia specialists in the community and received usual care which did not include comprehensive assessment or treatment of underlying metabolic derangements or maximal utilization of currently available medications. This study, evaluating date from a larger cohort (n>800) of specialist-treated cognitively-impaired patients, will further examine the hypothesis that a comprehensive dementia treatment protocol yields cognitive stabilization and/or improvement using already available dementia drugs when compared with usual community care.
Niemann-Pick disease, Type C is a rare genetic disorder characterized by a failing in intracellular cholesterol transport, inducing an accumulation of sphingolipids in the brain. Neurological signs are at the forefront of the disease. There are also psychiatric signs of psychotic kind among 28 to 45 % of patients according to studies, and a thirty cases were published. These signs can be concomitant with neurological signs or precede them. Is is likely that psychotic disorders are the first signs of a Niemann-Pick disease not yet non encore diagnosed for some patients. Yet, no prevalence study for this disease in a psychiatric population of patients currently exists. In response to this problem this study proposes to search patients whose disease could be of organic origin or patients whose disease is suspected, based on clinical data. The diagnosis will be confirmed certified with a genetic and/or biochemical test.
Behavioural disorders are very common right from the initial stage of dementia and contribute to loss of autonomy. Behavioural dysexecutive disorders have a particular status due to their prevalence and their diagnostic importance, as they often constitute the initial symptoms of Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Semantic Dementia (SD) and Huntington's disease (HD) and they are classically more frequent in vascular dementia (VaD) than in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The presence of these disorders at the stage of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) has only been partially evaluated and would increase the risk of progression to dementia. These classical data are based on non-standardized assessments and non-validated diagnostic criteria. The Groupe de Reflexion pour l'Evaluation des Fonctions EXécutives (GREFEX) has developed a standardized assessment tool for behavioural dysexecutive disorders, the Behavioural Dysexecutive Syndrome Inventory (BDSI) and has validated diagnostic criteria for this syndrome.
This is a human clinical study involving the isolation of autologous bone marrow derived stem cells (BMSC) and transfer to the vascular system and inferior 1/3 of the nasal passages in order to determine if such a treatment will provide improvement in neurologic function for patients with certain neurologic conditions. http://mdstemcells.com/nest/
This study is designed to learn more about overall tau burden in the brain of patients with Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) and Frontotemporal Dementia.
The purpose of this research study is to evaluate tau distribution in the brain of subjects with: FTD caused by different genetic mutations, any mutation carriers (with or without symptoms), any non-mutation carrier, any sporadic FTD, normal controls.
The study will investigate the ability of a new PET tracer, 18F-AV-1451, to detect depositions of a protein, called tau, in the brains of people with a mutation in the tau gene that causes deposition of the protein, and in people without the mutation. Up to three 18F-AV-1451 scans will be performed (one per year) on control subjects without MAPT mutations, presymptomatic mutation carriers, and symptomatic mutation carriers.
The goal of this study is to remediate word-finding problems in patients who have Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) or Alzheimer's Disease and to delay the further progression of word-finding impairment. The current approach is novel in that it contains a prophylaxis component in which the investigators attempt to strengthen neural connections that remain functional, making them more resistant to degradation as the disease progresses. While the study is specific in its targeting of word-finding problems, a successful outcome would bode well for other studies aimed at prevention or reversal of declining cognitive functions in dementia. One set of participants with PPA will receive practice with picture naming in two conditions: viewing the picture and repeating the name; and viewing the picture with its written name, plus reading and writing the name. Another set of participants with PPA or Alzheimer's Disease will be trained in two different conditions: learning about the word's semantic features (meaning); and learning about the word's lexical features (letters and sounds). Naming of pictures trained in each of these conditions will be compared, at three time intervals post-training, with naming of pictures tested before the study but never trained. It is predicted that the pairing of the picture with its written name, combined with the motor task of writing the name, will result in a greater ability to name the picture at a later date than simple practice viewing the picture and repeating the name. Furthermore, it is predicted that participants who have difficulty understanding concepts will be more likely to respond to semantic treatment, while participants who have difficulty connecting words with concepts will be more likely to respond to lexical treatment.