Active clinical trials for "Alzheimer Disease"

One purpose of this study is to construct the diagnosis system for early Alzheimer's disease(AD), which is also called amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), and then further construct the predictable classifier from aMCI to AD based on Multi-Modality MRI characteristics of aMCI patients.

The primary objective of this study is to characterize cerebral metabolism modifications using 18F-FDG PET technology and perfusion with 99MTC-ECD SPECT in patients with prodromal Alzheimer's Disease drawn from a high risk population. We also compare PET and SPECT imaging within this framework, and search for optimal diagnostic thresholds.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is believed to be the early stage of dementia. The investigators assume that some psychological and imaging risks may predict the conversion. In the current longitudinal study, psychological and imaging data of people with MCI will be obtained at baseline, and will be followed at 26 weeks and 52 weeks. The predictors will be found in comparison with controls.

There are guidelines on the management of AD in China, the evidence adopted in the guidelines are mostly from the trials conducted in other countries due to very limited Chinese data available for local systematic review. Therefore, more local evidence on dementia care is needed for the development of an evidence-based guideline appropriate for people living in China. Meanwhile, the inadequate implementation of the current AD guideline, which results in the low diagnostic rate and high diagnostic leakage, may bring about extra barriers for AD patients to access dementia care service in different areas nationwide. However, there is no data on the clinical pathway about how physicians follow the dementia guideline in the routine practice. Therefore, research is needed to learn clinical diagnostic process and treatment patterns of physicians to people with AD in routine practice and help address the low accurate rate of AD clinical diagnosis and low anti-dementia drug prescription in the real world and support guideline development.

The purpose of this study is to validate a diagnostic test that combines different blood markers to identify and correctly classify patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) compared to individuals with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD, patient control) versus cognitively healthy individuals (healthy control).

This study is a retrospective review of the data collected in a previously completed randomized, controlled trial (RCT) entitled "Memantine and Comprehensive, Individualized, Patient Centered Management of Alzheimer's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial" (NCT00120874). As part of the previously completed RCT, participants with Alzheimer's Disease (AD) were randomly placed into one of two groups: memantine, or memantine plus an individualized management program consisting of home visits, educational sessions for caregivers, and a caregiver support group. Participants received the study intervention for 28 weeks; study follow-up lasted for 52 weeks. The collected data from the existing study books from the 28 week treatment portion of the RCT will be carefully examined with respect to each of the research questions for the present retrospective study.

Behavioural disorders are very common right from the initial stage of dementia and contribute to loss of autonomy. Behavioural dysexecutive disorders have a particular status due to their prevalence and their diagnostic importance, as they often constitute the initial symptoms of Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Semantic Dementia (SD) and Huntington's disease (HD) and they are classically more frequent in vascular dementia (VaD) than in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The presence of these disorders at the stage of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) has only been partially evaluated and would increase the risk of progression to dementia. These classical data are based on non-standardized assessments and non-validated diagnostic criteria. The Groupe de Reflexion pour l'Evaluation des Fonctions EXécutives (GREFEX) has developed a standardized assessment tool for behavioural dysexecutive disorders, the Behavioural Dysexecutive Syndrome Inventory (BDSI) and has validated diagnostic criteria for this syndrome.

This project is focused on the gap in understanding of bilateral brain interactions and their role in helping normative and clinical elderly populations maintain cognitive health. The investigator will focus on investigating this neural mechanism of these interactions and promoting them with a precise application of TMS, in order to test the hypothesis that excitatory interactions between the hemispheres can provide positive outcomes for patients with pre-clinical AD (amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment or MCI-AD). In Session 1, the investigator will establish the spatial specificity of bilateral brain mechanisms with combination of behavior, TMS, and structural neuroimaging in cortical sites known to be active during memory encoding. In Session 2, the investigator will establish the underlying dynamics of interhemispheric communication using a novel combination of TMS and electroencephalography (EEG) to establish the coordinated activity between the hemispheres; Lastly, in Session 3, the investigator will use the TMS entraining parameters delineated in Aim 2 to promote specific cross-hemispheric communication, applied to participants performing a Picture Encoding task, a general task of memory performance. The outcome of these studies will allow our group to evaluate the strength of this brain stimulation protocol in alleviating age-related and dementia-related cognitive decline, and enable development of novel treatment protocols for dementia in elderly cohorts.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is usually associated with aging, age being the principal identified risk factor. However, younger subjects also develop AD and the prevalence of early onset AD is unknown. It is estimated that about 30 000 subjects develop symptoms of AD before the age of 65 in France. There is evidence that early onset AD differs from AD in older patients. In particular, clinical and neuroimaging studies suggest early involvement of neocortical brain regions and their functions in early onset AD, while mediotemporal areas and memory might be more involved in late onset AD. These differences could partly explain the atypical clinical and imaging features of younger patients, the diagnostic difficulties in these patients and the specific problems related to medical care of this age group. The present study uses a multidisciplinary approach with longitudinal followup in order to establish the impact of age on the clinical and neuroimaging picture of sporadic AD in a multicentric setting. Another aim of the project is to describe for each age group, and in particular for the younger patient group, the functional impact of disability in everyday life on both, patients and caregivers.

This study is designed to test the hypothesis that the Synchronous Neural Interaction™ Test is useful for diagnosing Probable Alzheimer's Disease according to standard criteria. Subjects diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease as well as age-matched normal control subjects will be evaluated for symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease and those meeting inclusion criteria will undergo a brief, non-invasive scan of brain function using a magnetoencephalography (MEG). The scan itself lasts 1 minute while the subject is asked to stare at a dot projected in front of them on a video screen. Orasi Medical believes that patterns of brain activity measured at rest are indicative of Alzheimer's Disease pathology. The protocol is amended to add a follow-up assessment for previously enrolled and completed subjects who agree to participate in the follow-up assessment approximately 9 - 15 months after initial study enrollment. Subjects who agree to participate in the follow-up assessment will undergo the same standardized tests and MEG scan procedure as completed in the initial study.