Active clinical trials for "Alzheimer Disease"

This study will measure the function of a protein called P-glycoprotein (P-gp), which is found at the blood-brain barrier, a membrane that normally prevents toxic material from entering the brain. Impaired P-gp function may allow toxins to enter the brain and cause some people to develop certain brain diseases. Healthy subjects and people with Alzheimer s disease, Parkinson s disease or frontotemporal dementia who are 35 years of age or older and in overall good health may be eligible for this study. Participants undergo the following procedures during three outpatient visits to the NIH Clinical Center: Medical history, psychological evaluation, physical examination and blood and urine tests, including tests for illegal and addictive drugs. PET scan: This test uses small amounts of a radioactive chemical called a tracer that labels active areas of the brain so the activity can be seen with a special camera. Before starting the scan, a catheter (plastic tube) is placed in a vein in the arm to inject the tracer. The subject lies on the scanner bed, with a special mask fitted to the head and attached to the bed to help keep the head still during the scan so the images obtained are clear. A brief initial scan is done to calibrate the scanner. Then, a radioactive tracer called [(15)O]H(2)O is injected into the catheter and the PET camera takes pictures of blood flow to the brain for about 60 seconds. Next, another tracer, [(11)C]dLop, is injected into the catheter and pictures are taken for about 2 hours to determine how much of this tracer is allowed to enter the brain. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): This procedure is done within 1 year (before or after) the PET scan. MRI uses a magnetic field and radio waves to produce images of the brain. For this procedure, the patient lies on a table that can slide in and out of the scanner (a tube-like device), wearing earplugs to muffle loud knocking and thumping sounds that occur during the scan.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the organization of memory and develop future methods for early detection of AD. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we examine the responsiveness of the brain to memory tasks, specifically focusing on regions of the brain (the mesial temporal lobe and posterior cingulate) that are known to be involved in early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Of interest are differences in brain activation between people with and without a family history of AD and other risk factors.

The purpose of this study is to learn more about the medical problems and the genetic factors involved in a recently defined form of inherited dementia called "familial dementia with neuroserpin inclusion bodies (FDNIB)." Abnormal substances in nerve cells of patients with this disease affect brain and nervous system function, causing confusion, memory decline and impaired cognition (thinking ability). Patients also develop movement disorders and, possibly, seizures. Symptoms begin in midlife, between 45 and 55 years of age. Patients with FDNIB and family members 18 years of age or older at risk for the disease may be eligible for this 3-year study. Participants will have a medical and family history and review of medical records; interview with a medical geneticist (specialist in genetics); physical, neurological and psychiatric examinations; and the following tests and procedures: Blood tests to assess general health Chest and skull X-rays Electrocardiogram (EKG)-record of the electrical activity of the heart using electrodes placed on the chest Electroencephalogram (EEG)-record of the electrical activity of the brain using electrodes placed on the head Ultrasound of the abdomen-imaging of abdominal organs using sound waves Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-imaging of the brain using a strong magnetic field and radio waves Hearing evaluation Assessment of performance of daily living activities Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)-imaging of brain metabolism and blood flow using a radioactive substance injected into a vein The evaluation will be done over a 3- to 4-day period. At their completion, participants will meet with a physician and a genetics counselor to discuss the clinically significant findings. Participants may be asked to return for follow-up evaluations every 6 months to a year (depending on the individual's condition) for 3 years.

Recent clinical data showed that patients with Alzheimer Disease (AD) might present epilepsy at early stages of the disease (Cretin et al., 2016, Vossel et al., 2016). In mice models of Alzheimer disease, preclinical researchers observed an increase of epileptic events during Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, which is very unusual. This study aims at testing if patients with AD present an exacerbation of epileptic events during REM sleep, which could constitute an early biomarker of the disease. Investigators will evaluate the incidence of epilepsy during each sleep stage in 40 patients with early or moderate forms of AD and in 40 healthy subjects. Investigators will also look for a link between epilepsy during sleep in AD participants and memory performances, brain damage (by using MRI scans) and in the case of patients, the phenotype of the Apolipoprotein E(ApoE) gene.

The early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease is essential to enable patients to have access to the available treatments. However, there is a delay between the diagnosis and the onset of symptoms, which can range from 1 year to more than 5 years. In clinical practice, the hippocampal volume, measured by the Scheltens index, is currently used as a marker of the progression of the disease. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the patient's sex, age and ethnicity can influence the delay in the expression of cognitive troubles reported by the family at the first medical consultation, as well as to determine if there is a correlation between the delay reported by the family and the Scheltens index.

In France, Alzheimer's disease accounts for 70 to 80% of the causes of neurocognitive disorders, i.e. 600,000 to 800,000 patients. It is a neurodegenerative pathology that causes evolutionary cognitive dysfunction, mainly affecting memory functions. The inability to name familiar objects (lack of the word) is one of the most commonly noted symptoms at an early stage of the disease. Presbyacusis, or age-related hearing loss, is the most common sensory deficit in the elderly which is manifested socially by a progressive discomfort of verbal communication. Presbyacusis remains underdiagnosed and undertreated: 2/3 of the patients are not using hearing aid. In recent years, a link between neurocognitive disorders and hearing loss has been shown by investigating general cognition. In this study, the investigators are investigating lexical disorders.

Glucose is the main energy source of brain. Different neural degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease have shown distinct brain glucose metabolic patterns. FDG-PET is a established non-invasive method to measures cerebral glucose metabolism and can be used to differentiate different types of neurodegenerative diseases that anatomical imaging such as CT or MRI may not be able to differentiate. Among patients whose Alzheimer's diseases have not been confirmed, the defects in brain glucose metabolism can predict future amyloid plaque deposition. On the other hand, early amyloid plaque deposition may predict the future occurrence of Alzheimer's disease as early as 15 years before the onset. This research project is focusing on the sequential change of the two biomarkers of brain glucose metabolism and amyloid plaque deposition and their correlation with clinical symptoms in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The subjects in this project will be including normal controls without cognitive impairment, patients with prodromal AD or AD. The relationship between functional connectivity of FDG-PET and amyloid deposition in different group of patients will be investigated. Further correlation with tau PET will be also discussed. In the imaging process part of this project, the standard tool, SPM (Spatial Parametric Mapping) will be applied. As machine learning/deep learning methodology is gaining popularity in medical imaging research community, collaboration with artificial intelligence core laboratory at Linkou will be pursued to investigate hidden correlation between functional connectivity, amyloid plaque, progress of clinical symptoms with time that previous statistical methods may not be able to find.

This project will collect quantitative pilot data that will allow the characterization of uptake and binding of 18F-AV-1451 (also known as F 18 T807, also known as T807, also known as 7-(6-fluoropyridin-3-yl)-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole), a novel tau imaging compound, in older HIV+ individuals with and without HAND and matched HIV uninfected (HIV-) controls. The primary goal is to develop this highly promising tau imaging technique as an biomarker of cognitive decline in HIV+ individuals. The investigators will obtain preliminary data that will support the possibility of detecting early brain pathological changes due to HIV. Data generated from this study will be used for submission of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants comparing tau deposition in HAND compared to other neurodegenerative disorders. It is hypothesized that specific topographies will help distinguish these neurodegenerative disorders in older individuals.

The goal of this study is to examine olfactory function in preclinical subjects or individuals with neurological diseases such as Probable Alzheimer's Disease (PRAD), Frontotemporal Dementias (FTD), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB), Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

The main objective of the research is to create a tool that can make a good diagnosis of cognitive abilities in Alzheimer's patients. As a secondary objective, the investigators intend to examine both the percentage of correct answers and the response times and see their relationship with age, gender, sex, months since the onset of the disease and years of training.