Active clinical trials for "Alzheimer Disease"

Recently, the Tdap (tetanus toxoid, reduced diphtheria toxoid and acellular pertussis) vaccination was added to the list of immunizations associated with lower incidence of dementia. Plasma-based biomarkers for AD are a welcome alternative to expensive and invasive testing for Alzheimer's; these biomarkers include assessment of amyloid and tau and neurofilament light protein that assesses non-specific neurodegeneration. The investigators will test for these biomarkers, as well as some immune parameters, administer Tdap then repeat the blood tests in six months.

This study is being done to learn about inflammation and amyloid in Alzheimer's disease. A type of brain scan called a PET scan is used measure 1) inflammation and 2) abnormal accumulation of a the amount of a certain protein fragment called beta-amyloid (plaques) in the brain. These are thought to be involved in Alzheimer's disease. The investigators will also perform brain MRI and do tests to measure the participants' memory and thinking.

This is a prospective, open label, non-therapeutic, diagnostic imaging study. The purpose of this study is to utilize Pittsburgh Compound B positron emission imaging (PiB PET) to ascertain the relationship between change in amyloid burden over time, and concurrent change in clinical status.

This study seeks to improve clinical outcomes for an important, growing, and vulnerable population-nursing home residents with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias-by testing an evidence-based intervention to improve these residents' sleep. It will also examine the implementation and sustainment of this intervention.

The proposed project is a fully embedded pragmatic trial (R01), following an R61 pilot collaboration with Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota (LSS-MN). For this project: a) the training program for Senior Companions that was developed in the R61 Phase will now be delivered as part of a routine onboarding process provided by LSS-MN to all senior support volunteers in half of their program regions across Minnesota; LSS-MN will offer the PorchLight Project program to all regions and volunteers in the state during the final months of the proposed NIA project, consistent with quality improvement approaches; and b) LSS-MN will administer regular surveys to volunteers, clients, and their proxies (e.g., family caregivers) as part of ongoing tracking and quality improvement efforts. The University of Minnesota investigators will not collect data nor administer training, as these activities will be fully integrated into the workflow of LSS-MN. UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA INVOLVEMENT: The University of Minnesota and collaborating investigators outside of LSS-MN will only 1) assist in survey item selection, 2) randomize the LSS-MN regions for the initial phases of the real-world trial for evaluation purposes, 3) analyze the de-identified data shared by LSS-MN, and 4) disseminate the project results in scientific, practice, and policy outlets/contexts.

Episodic memory refers to the conscious recalling of a personal experience and includes information of an event and the context in which the event took place. This function is the first to be impaired in Alzheimer's disease, a degenerative condition in which pathological changes are found initially in the medial temporal cortex and then spread in the rest of the cortex starting from post-Rolandic areas. This study aims at examining the mechanisms that enhance memory processes, based on the information acquired by studying hypermnesic subjects. The recent discovery of subjects with an extraordinary ability to remember past events (highly above-average autobiographical memory) and the development of techniques to manipulate memory circuits in rodents provide a unique opportunity to study the mechanisms that determine the facilitation of memories. As part of a multicenter project funded by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with La Sapienza University of Rome, the University of Perugia and the Santa Lucia Rehabilitation Center in Rome, the aspect of the project carried out at CIMeC (University of Trento) will consist in evaluating the changes induced by rTMS in patients with prodromal Alzheimer's disease, after stimulation of the regions that appear particularly active in hypermnesic subjects. This project would offer the possibility of accessing an innovative non-invasive, and non-pharmacological treatment. The specific objectives are: (i) To evaluate the effectiveness of rTMS applied to hyperactive areas in hypermnesic subjects in enhancing autobiographical memories; (ii) Analyzing the neural correlates of the behavioral variations. The study will allow us to define whether it is possible to improve the recollection of autobiographical events by stimulating the circuits that are more active in hypermnesic subjects. The results will be crucial to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms through which brain stimulation contributes to the promotion of neuroplasticity and the effects of rTMS in the prodromal stages of Alzheimer's dementia.

The purpose of this research study is to see if lifestyle changes can protect memory and thinking (cognition) as we age. A recent study in Finland found that a combination of physical and cognitive exercise, diet, and social activity protected cognitive function in healthy older adults who were at increased risk of significant memory loss. So far no medications can rival this positive outcome. The point of POINTER is to test if lifestyle change can also protect against memory loss in Americans.

This protocol focuses on novel measures of cognition and everyday function that have robust psychometrics and reduced practiced effects. They will be deployed in a parallel group study in which participants are randomized to assessment type (novel vs established) and receive serial assessments over a one year period in order to highlight contrasts between novel and established measures.

The purpose of this project is to develop a monitoring, modeling, and interactive recommendation solution (for caregivers) for in-home dementia patient care that focuses on caregiver-patient relationships. This includes monitoring for mood and stress and analyzing the significance of monitoring those attributes to dementia patient care and subsequent behavior dynamics between the patient and caregiver. In addition, novel and adaptive behavioral suggestions at the right moments aims at helping improve familial interactions related to caregiving, which over time should ameliorate the stressful effects of the patient's illness and reduce strain on caregivers. The technical solution consists of a core set of statistical learning based techniques for automated generation of specialized modules required by in-home dementia patient care. There are three main technical components in the solution. The first obtains textual content and prosody from voice and uses advanced machine learning techniques to create classification models. This approach not only monitors patients' behavior, but also caregivers', and infers the underlying dynamics of their interactions, such as changes in mood and stress. The second is the automated creation of classifiers and inference modules tailored to the particular patients and dementia conditions (such as different stages of dementia). The third is an adaptive recommendation system that closes the loop of an in-home behavior monitoring system.

This is an extension trial of a prior trial (NCT02213458). Both persons with dementia (PWD) and their caregivers were enrolled as dyads. The purpose of this randomized clinical trial is to evaluate the benefits of a program that supports model care for PWD and their caregivers. Whereas the prior trial only delivered care and examined outcomes up to 12-months, this trial extends care and outcome measurement for 5 years or until death, and includes all dyads where the caregiver reported high caregiver burden (Zarit-12 greater than or equal to 17) at pre-randomization baseline for the original trial. Participants were recruited from California, Nebraska and Iowa. Participants determined to be eligible were consented and randomized into one of two groups. Two thirds of dyads were enrolled into Navigated Care that provided them with phone-based assistance in meeting important benchmarks in their care, for example completion of legal and financial planning and strategies for minimizing caregiver burden. One third of dyads were enrolled to a control group, entitled Survey of Care. Outcomes were unchanged from the original trial except for the addition of time to long term care placement and are detailed below.