Active clinical trials for "Alzheimer Disease"

Cognitive and memory disorders are characterized of Alzheimer disease. In addition, psychologic and behavioural symptoms, called speak neuropsychiatric symptoms, are frequents and play an important role in prognostic and intervention. These symptoms are noticed before the diagnostic of dementia, their prevalence and their intensity increase with the evolution of disease. Apathy, which is characterized by a decrease of motivation, is the most frequent of this behaviour disrupt. Clinically, a decrease, or a totally, lack of interest, initiative and blunting emotional are noticed. Fundamentally, apathy is considered as a decrease of cognition and behaviour to "go in goal". Assessment of psychological and behavioural symptoms is realised principally with neuropsychiatric scales. These contribute to obtain particular informations about health of patient allowing by patient and caregiver discussions and impressions of clinician. These scales are simples but loss of subjectivity. An alternative of this method is the use of gerontechnology as actigraphy (system out-patient which records locomotive activity with the help of piezo-electrical sensor fixed on a bracelet) and video recording which is associated to an informatic treatment of signal in order event recognition. The aim of study is to realise an objective assessment of activities "go in goal" during experimental sequence which has well-characterized acts, using at the same time an actigraphic record of activity "motive" (system of assessment indirect of apathy fit) and a video records which uses an informatic event recognition system. The assessment will realise with participants controls (n=30) and Alzheimer disease patients with (n=20) or without (n=20) apathy, during well-characterized records. The final aim is to obtain a particular assessment of some disorders behaviours, as apathy, which is principally characterize by a decrease of behaviours "to go in goal".

The investigators plan to see what factors can influence the durability of Exelon patch treatment in Korean patients with Alzheimer's disease. Based on these results, the investigators will find the ways to maximize the effect and durability of Exelon patch on Korean patients with Alzheimer's disease. After finishing this study, the investigators are going to present the study results at the international and national academic meetings or conferences. Also the investigators expect that they can publish the result in a journal of in the field of neurology or dementia till the winter of 2010.

To compare the relative bioavailability and pharmacokinetic characteristics of a newly developed donepezil formulation with a conventional formulation in healthy subjects with a single dose, randomized, open-label, 2-sequence -2period crossover study.

This investigation is designed to study how the brain functions when it is performing explicit memory tasks, and furthermore how the brain systems supporting performance on these tests change as a function of aging. Implicit memory tasks may be distinguished from explicit memory tests in that explicit memory characterizes the directed or intentional recollection of previously learned information or events. In contrast, implicit (or nonconscious) memory is expressed in the facilitation of performance on some task or judgment on a stimulus owing to a prior presentation of that stimulus, without any necessary conscious awareness of the prior presentation. The investigators propose to use functional Magnetic resonance Imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity during the performance of carefully designed explicit memory tasks. Comparison of brain activity during the different test conditions will provide information about the brain areas that are involved in mediating specific aspects of performance. Both older and younger individuals will be tested in order to understand age related changes in the brain activity. In order to examine the interactions between participants' differential levels of amyloid burden and their performance on cognitive tasks and fMRI neural activation, the investigators also propose PET imaging of older participants.

The purpose of the study is to examine patterns of brain activity in people who are at risk for memory problems (e.g., Alzheimer's disease or dementia)before and after the medication donepezil. Although genetic testing will be done, the results will not be shared with study participants. Once the genetic testing is completed subjects may continue to the second phase of the study. During this time they will be asked to take the medication donepezil (which is approved by the FDA for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease). Donepezil is not FDA approved for healthy volunteers and is therefore considered investigational in this study.

The study will investigate the possibility of detecting early signs of Alzheimer's disease using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). If plaques, types of damage, can be imaged by MRI, the procedure could be used in clinical trials and may also help in the clinical diagnosis of patients. Alzheimer's disease, a progressive disease, is a major cause of functional disability and institutionalization, affecting 4.5 million people in the United States, a number that will more than triple by 2030 as the population ages. Patients ages 55 to 90 who have mild symptoms of Alzheimer's disease and who are in good health may be eligible for this study. Twenty patients will be recruited from Johns Hopkins' Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. There will also be a control group of 20 people without the disease. Healthy patients and volunteers will have a clinical MRI brain scan and a neurological examination at Johns Hopkins Hospital before the 7T MRI scan. Also, patients will have a Mini-Mental State Examination, a standardized test to evaluate memory, done at Johns Hopkins within 4 weeks of the 7T MRI. This study uses a device situated at the NIH Bethesda campus that operates at a high magnetic field strength of 7 Tesla, that is, the unit used to measure the strength of a strong magnet. The Food and Drug Administration has categorized MRI up to 8 Tesla as not a significant health risk. MRI scanning is routinely done at magnetic field strengths up to 4T. MRI images are created through the use of a large magnet and radio waves. During the procedure, patients lie on a table moved into a strong magnetic field. They are asked to lie still but can easily hear and speak to research staff. A respiratory belt is placed around the chest, and a finger probe is placed on the finger, to monitor breathing and heart rate. For obtaining a better picture, a special lightweight coil may be placed on or around the patient's head. The scan takes from 20 minutes to 2 hours, with most scans at 45 to 90 minutes. Due to limited experience with the use of 7T MRI and its investigational nature, patients will be asked to complete a questionnaire immediately after the study. They will be asked about their comfort level and if they experienced unusual sensations. Answers will be reviewed with patients by an experienced MRI investigator to get details of any unusual sensations reported. If patients experience unusual sensations, they are followed up by phone within 24 hours. This study wi...

The purpose of this study is to use fMRI techniques to explore a certain part of the brain associated with Alzheimer's disease known as the posterior cingulate. Determining the functionality of this brain region may help us diagnose AD more accurately, thus allowing earlier treatment.

This project will focus on the development and testing of efficient, cost effective measures that are specifically designed for use in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) primary prevention trials.

Our study is designed to help caregivers of someone with Alzheimer's Disease and related dementia to understand and deal with the difficult behaviors of a person with dementia.

We will try to establish the correlation of plasma Aβ40 and Aβ42 level, ApoE genotype, MRI imaging markers in the diagnosis and prognosis of VCI patients understand more on the pathophysiology of VCI.