Efficacy and Safety of Memantine and Sodium Oligomannate in Patients With Moderate to Severe Alzheimer's...
TreatmentEfficacy2 moreAlzheimer's disease (AD) is the main cause of dementia. At present, AD is incurable. Memantine is recommended for the treatment of moderate and severe AD patients. Sodium oligomannate (GV-971) is a marine-derived oligosaccharide. It is proposed that it can reconstitute the gut microbiota, and inhibit neuroinflammation in the brain as observed in animal models. It reduces Aβ deposition in the brain of Aβ-transgenic mice. The reduction in both Aβ deposition and neuroinflammation may synergistically contribute to the improvement of cognitive impairment and delay the progress of the disease. China Food and Drug Administration(CFDA)approved it for the treatment of mild to moderate AD in 2019. Due to the different mechanism of memantine and GV-971, theoretically, they may synergistically improve cognitive function and delay disease progression. However, there is a lack of data on their effectiveness and safety. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of memantine and GV-971 monotherapy and combination therapy in patients with moderate to severe AD, which is of great significance for guiding the treatment of moderate and severe AD.
Self and Autobiographical Memory in Dementia With Lewy Bodies and Alzheimer Disease: a Behavioral...
Dementia With Lewy BodiesAlzheimer Disease3 moreThe present project aims at exploring different components of Self-consciousness or 'the Self', such as autobiographical memory, self-concept and subjective sense of Self, in dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) compared to Alzheimer's disease and to normal ageing. Anatomical substrates will be studied in multimodal imaging, in terms of volume, anatomical and functional connectivity. We expect to find an alteration of the different components of the Self, consecutive to insular dysfunction, a key region within cerebral networks of self-consciousness, which is damaged early in the course of the disease.
Accelerated Non-Atherosclerotic Brain Arterial Aging Relationship to Alzheimer's Disease
Alzheimer DiseaseDementiaThe aging of the United States (US) population will lead to a steep rise in Alzheimer disease (AD). There is an urgent need for novel therapies that may tackle this looming societal problem. People with Alzheimer disease have frequently evidence of vascular disease in the brain, and vascular disease can increase the risk of Alzheimer disease. Based on this finding, the investigators plan to expand the understanding of how vascular disease contributes to Alzheimer disease, hoping to identify novel target to modify the natural progression of the disease. The investigators will accomplish this goal by inviting 300 participants (with and without dementia) of the Northern Manhattan Study (NOMAS) to undergo a brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and donate blood. Of the 300 participants enrolled, 60 participants will be randomly selected to undergo Aβ and tau positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. From the brain MRI, the investigators will obtain measurements of cerebrovascular disease and relate the to the risk of Alzheimer disease. With the blood, the investigators hope to identify measures of aging and inflammation that may predict changes noted in brain scan and identify people at a higher risk of dementia. The investigators will examine PET markers of inflammation and aging in the brain and how the markers relate to dementia.
Smart Lighting for Nursing Home Residents With Dementia
Alzheimer's Disease and Related DementiasThis proposed study seeks to develop a smart ambient bright light (SABL) intervention to provide auto-controlled, consistent indoor lighting that incorporates natural daylight. This SABL includes tunable LED lights, photosensors, and controllers. The SABL system has a pre-programmed 24-hour control schedule for illuminance settings to mimic the natural bright-dark cycle. It will automatically adjust the lights to accommodate the daylight effect to minimize staff burden and maximize the LI effect. The SABL will be installed in participants' bedrooms and designated areas in the dining rooms and activity rooms for four weeks. Each participant will wear a personal light monitor to measure the lighting dosage each participant receives. This study will address three aims: 1) pilot test the effect of SABL on reducing agitation in persons with ADRD, 2) evaluate the fidelity of the SABL delivery, and 3) evaluate the feasibility of implementing the SABL. The study will be conducted in two NHs in Pennsylvania. For aims 1 and 2, the investigators will use a crossover, cluster randomized control trial (RCT) and will enroll residents with ADRD and agitation. For aim 3, the investigators will use a mixed methods design and will interview NH stakeholders to evaluate the acceptability, feasibility, and appropriateness of the intervention. This is the first study that incorporates daylight in ambient light interventions and the first study that addresses the measurement, feasibility, and fidelity of lighting interventions. Findings will establish evidence-based implementation strategies and the best design for SABL to reduce agitation for persons with ADRD in NHs.
CBD for Individuals at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease
Mild Cognitive ImpairmentThis is a double-blind, randomized controlled trial designed to test the effects of cannabidiol (CBD) on validated biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) progression, behavioral and clinical measures, with putative mechanisms of CBD action.
Memory and Social Interactions
Alzheimer DiseaseSemantic DementiaMemory and social interaction are intimately linked. On the one hand, social interaction is a privileged context for learning, and on the other hand, appropriate social interactions involve remembering the partners encountered and previous exchanges. People with Alzheimer's disease classic syndrome variant (AD) have a major impairment of episodic memory, while people with the semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (SPPA) are characterized by semantic disorders in the foreground, associated with changes in their social behavior with a tendency to egocentricity. In both cases, patients frequently have reduced social interactions. Although social interaction situations seem to constitute a privileged learning context, their effectiveness for patients with cognitive disorders must be evaluated and the conditions under which they are effective must be established. The main objective of this study is to determine whether social interaction constitutes a beneficial context for learning new information and whether the presence of social behavior disorders alters this benefit. More broadly, the goal is to better understand the mechanisms underlying the possible beneficial effect of learning in social contexts and to clarify the links between memory performance in different social contexts, cognitive disorders, social behavioral changes and personality traits. Finally, a description will be made of the brain substrates associated with memory performance obtained during learning in social contexts in order to investigate their particularities. Thirty couples each including a person with AD, 16 couples each including a person with SPPA and 46 couples of persons without cognitive complaints (HC), one of which will be matched in gender and age to one of the patients, will be included in the study. Participants will perform image location learning in a grid, in three social contexts in which both members of the couple are involved: 1) simple presence of others, 2) by observation and 3) in collaboration. A psychometric assessment including social cognition and classical tests assessing memory, and questionnaires concerning global executive functioning, social behavior and personality will be offered to all participants. Patients in the AD and SPPA groups and the matched individual in the HC group will undergo anatomical and functional brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Couples Lived Experience
Alzheimer DiseaseDementia of Alzheimer TypeThis is a longitudinal study with regular quantitative assessments of all participants every six months for 3 years. The quantitative portion of the study will recruit couples, consisting of individuals over the age of 65 who are in a committed relationship. Both members of the couple must be willing to participate at baseline. The assessment is in two parts. In the first part, each member of the couple will be asked the following: demographic information, mental health history, self-reported physical and emotional health, measures of emotional and mental health, personality, relationship and attachment style, social support and self-efficacy. Then each member of the study couple will be asked a series of questions to determine whether they consider themselves a caregiver. If they do, individuals will be asked to respond to additional caregiver questionnaires. Follow-ups will occur every six months for the study couples for a total of three years from the baseline visit. Each visit, the entire assessment except for demographic questions, will be re-administered to each individual in the couple. At the end of each questionnaire battery, individuals will be screened for cognitive impairment and those who are in the middle to advanced stages of dementia will no longer participate. Recruitment will end when 600 individuals (300 couples,150 couples at each site) are enrolled in the longitudinal portion of the study. All study visits will be conducted virtually via Zoom or WebEx video conferencing. Analyses will be conducted to determine the association between changes in dyadic relationship and changes in mental health and cognitive outcomes, to elucidate how relationship characteristics impact health and well-being as perceived by each member of the dyad.
Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative 4
Mild Cognitive ImpairmentAlzheimer Disease1 moreSince its launch in 2004, the overarching aim of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) Study has been to validate biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) clinical trials. ADNI4 continues the previously funded ADNI1, ADNI-GO, ADNI2, and ADNI3 studies that have combined public/private collaborations between academia and industry to determine the relationships between the clinical, cognitive, imaging, genetic and biochemical biomarker characteristics of the entire spectrum of AD.
Psycho-social Intervention With Paro Robotic Seal Focused on Patients With Dementia
Alzheimer DiseaseOlder AdultsThe overall objective of the study is to evaluate the improvement in patient-perceived quality of life following the use of the Paro robot integrated with traditional intervention in the elderly with dementia.
Memesto Wearable Device for Persons With Dementia
Alzheimer DiseaseAn estimated 70% of the 7.2+ million people in the U.S. with Alzheimer's Disease and Alzheimer's Disease-Related Dementias experience agitation, characterized by poorly organized and purposeless psychomotor activity that diminishes their quality of life. The goal of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) project is to develop a wearable therapy device that automatically senses rising agitation, and alerts caregivers while deploying calming voice and music therapy to help them avoid crisis level behavior. This device will improve health outcomes for AD/ADRD sufferers and reduce the substantial stress suffered by their caregivers.