View clinical trials related to Cognitive Dysfunction.
Filter by:The diagnosis of diseases causing memory difficulties or dementia is often challenging. Without the use of advanced methods such as cerebrospinal fluid tests, approximately 25-30% do not receive a correct diagnosis today. However, the investigators have recently developed new blood biomarkers with high diagnostic accuracy, and the investigators now want to investigate whether they can eventually replace cerebrospinal fluid tests. This is because blood tests are much more cost-effective and significantly easier for patients compared to cerebrospinal fluid tests. In this study, 1200 patients undergoing clinical evaluations at the Memory Clinic, Skåne University Hospital in Malmö, are included for blood and cerebrospinal fluid sample collection. The blood samples are sent for analysis using the new blood biomarkers. Subsequently, the results are compared with those from the clinical analysis of cerebrospinal fluid to determine how well they perform in routine clinical practice as an alternative to cerebrospinal fluid tests and whether the blood test improves patient care. This comparison is carried out by the attending physician in three steps: 1. Assessment without access to the results of either the blood test or cerebrospinal fluid test. 2. Assessment with access to only the results of the blood test. 3. Assessment with access to the results of both the blood test and cerebrospinal fluid test. Aim 1) To prospectively validate plasma Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers for diagnosis of patients with cognitive symptoms who are evaluated in a specialist memory clinic. Aim 2) Determine whether blood AD biomarkers improve patient management in specialist memory clinic settings.
Objective 1: To scale-up the nutrition adherence intervention for testing in predominantly Black and African-American rural communities in North Florida. The investigators hypothesize that: 1. The protocol will produce at least 75% of participants obtaining measurable levels of urine ketones (e.g., good adherence) in the Mediterranean-Ketogenic nutrition (MKN) group and an average score of >9 on the MEDAS questionnaire in the Mediterranean group during the 10-week program. Objective 2: To evaluate the effects of adherence to Mediterranean versus Mediterranean-Ketogenic nutrition on novel gut-brain axis markers of Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis in individuals with mild cognitive impairment compared to cognitively normal older adults. The investigators hypothesize that individuals with mild cognitive impairment will: 1. Have greater evidence of gut dysbiosis at baseline than cognitively normal controls and 2. Will demonstrate greater increases in beneficial gut microbial metabolites in response to adherence to Mediterranean-Ketogenic nutrition and the Mediterranean diet compared to CN controls.
This research study aims to examine biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) as early as possible which could potentially be a screening tool for the general population. This observational study will take place at the Skåne University Hospital in Sweden. The study will enroll up to 600 cognitively healthy subjects aged 50 to 80 years with 3/4 having preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Recruitment and enrollment will be ongoing for 2-3 years, and subject participation will be lasting approximately 4 years. Disclosure of AD risk assessments will be an optional procedure.
The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the effects of a three-week altitude-like cognition training intervention in healthy individuals (substudy 1) and symptomatically stable patients with mood disorders (depression or bipolar disorder; substudy 2). This multi-modal intervention consists of an adaptive cognitive training programme that participants complete while they're inside an altitude-training room with 12% O2, corresponding to 4400 meters altitude. Across substudy 1 and 2, the investigators hypothesize that altitude-like cognition training has a beneficial effect on cognition after three-weeks treatment completion measured with a global cognition composite score (primary outcome measure). Further, the investigators hypothesize that hypoxia and cognition training will yield improved executive functioning after treatment completion and changes in brain activity during working memory in the dorsal prefrontal cortex 4 weeks after treatment completion (secondary outcome measures). In the patient study, the investigators further hypothesize that the intervention will have beneficial effects on daily-life cognition measured in virtual reality (VR) 4 weeks after treatment completion (secondary outcome measure in substudy 2). For exploratory purposes, the study will examine effects on additional measures of cognition, functioning and self-ratings scales (tertiary outcomes). The investigators will compare the combination of altitude-like hypoxia (12%) and cognitive training with (1) hypoxia with no training, (2) cognitive training under normal oxygen levels (normoxia; 20%), and (3) normoxia with no training in healthy individuals (substudy 1). For patients with mood disorders (substudy 2) the effects of altitude-like hypoxia (12%) and cognitive training are compared to treatment as usual (TAU).
The overall aim of the study is to improve the diagnostic accuracy of AD and cognitive impairment in primary care settings to ensure better care and treatment as well as facilitate correct referrals to specialized memory clinics. The investigators will strive to recruit diverse and representative populations of patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild dementia. The specific aims of the study are to: 1. Improve the detection of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in primary care. 2. Develop and evaluate cognitive tests, blood-based biomarkers and brain imaging methods that are suitable for accurate and early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in primary care. 3. To prospectively validate plasma AD biomarkers for diagnosis of patients with cognitive symptoms who are evaluated in primary care. 4. Determine whether blood AD biomarkers improve patient management in primary care.
Alzheimer´s disease (AD) is the most common cause of dementia. The most important risk factor for AD is old age; modifiable risk factors for AD include metabolic risk factors, i.e. diabetes, and obesity. Insulin resistance seems to be associated with AD pathology and cognitive decline. Previous studies suggest that AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD, a stage between normal cognition and AD dementia, would be associated with central nervous system (CNS) insulin resistance. Insulin resistance can be measured using a sophisticated hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamp technique. Insulin-stimulated glucose uptake of muscles and adipose tissue is known to be reduced in an insulin resistant subject compared to healthy insulin sensitive subjects. Central nervous system insulin resistance, however, is more difficult to assess, while a clear-cut definition is thus far lacking. Previous studies have demonstrated that whole-body insulin resistance in obese subjects is accompanied with higher brain glucose-uptake (BGU) during the insulin clamp, compared to lean controls, and that BGU increases from the fasting to the insulin clamp state. On the contrary, there is no difference in BGU under fasting conditions between obese subjects and healthy lean controls. No previous studies have evaluated brain glucose uptake in clamp conditions in subjects with MCI or early AD. The aim of this study is to evaluate if brain glucose uptake is increased in MCI/ early AD subjects in a similar manner as in morbidly obese subjects in an insulin-stimulated state (during a hyperinsulinemic clamp) when compared to the fasting state, and when compared to controls. The investigators hypothesize that MCI subjects would have CNS insulin resistance that could, in time, contribute to the pathological process of AD. The investigators will recruit altogether 20 MCI subjects from the local memory clinic, and healthy controls through advertisements. All participants will undergo two [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) scans (one in the fasting state and one during the hyperinsulinemic clamp), a magnetic resonance image scan for structural changes, blood sampling, and comprehensive cognitive testing. The participants will also undergo a [11C]PIB-PET scan to measure brain amyloid accumulation. Understanding the metabolic changes in the brain preceding AD could help in developing disease-modifying treatments in the future.
To evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of SHR-1707 in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild AD for 26 weeks.
The goal of this observational study is to use the combined power of the integration of clinical, molecular, proteomic, genomic, care, social, environmental and behavioural data in patients, using advanced artificial intelligence techniques for data processing and analysis, in order to generate predictive models for the preclinical detection of CI in the population aged 55-70 years.
Given that preventing and delaying the onset of dementia is a crucial public health policy issues worldwide, it is essential to develop effective interventions and implement early interventions before the onset of dementia. Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) is considered the earliest manifestation of dementia and individuals with SCD may have a higher risk for future cognitive decline and dementia. Despite performing normally on objective cognitive tests, individuals with SCD have been found to exhibit worse performance on some cognitive domains, including executive functions, compared to those without SCD. Executive Functions (EFs) refer to a set of cognitive processes that include working memory, inhibition, cognitive flexibility, planning, problem solving and reasoning, enabling individuals to achieve goals by controlling and regulating thoughts and behaviors. EFs are important for our daily functioning and their decline can negatively impact an individual's quality of life. However, to our knowledge, there is limited research on maintaining or improving EFs in individuals with SCD. Tinkering Activity (TA) is a hands-on cognitive activity that emphasizes process of problem-solving, active engagement and open-ended exploration, which challenges EFs. In addition, previous research has shown the benefits of TA for community-dwelling older adults. Therefore, the goal of this clinical tri is to examine the efficacy of TA based cognitive intervention in enhancing EFs in individuals with SCD. This study will be a one-group pretest-posttest design. Twelve to fifteen individuals with SCD will be recruited from the communities. All participants will receive 12 intervention sessions, each lasting 2 hours, with two sessions per week for 6 weeks. All participants will be assessed before and after the intervention.
Over 50% of the Veterans enrolled for VA health care are over the age of 65. Dementia prevalence increases with age, and with the increase in the population of people ages 65 and older, the total number of people with dementia is also increasing. Older Veterans often have comorbid PTSD, major depression and traumatic brain injury so that they are at 2 to 5 times the risk for cognitive impairment and dementia compared to the general population. There is evidence that exercise interventions in sedentary older adults could improve both physical and cognitive function. However, there have been very few studies on the effects of exercise on cognition in older Veterans and do not reflect the broader ethnic and health-status diversity of Veterans. Thus, improved knowledge of the role of exercise on cognition as well as the predictive power of biomarkers could have a major beneficial impact on Veterans' functional independence and quality of life. The investigators hypothesize that participation in the VA Gerofit exercise program will improve cognitive function in older Veterans and that blood and muscle biomarkers will predict these improvements.