Active clinical trials for "Cognitive Dysfunction"

Physical exercise has proven to improve memory including in the elderly. Drugs developed to stop the underlying disease processes that cause Alzheimer's disease may succeed only with multimodal efforts to stimulate brain function. One purpose of the study is to test the clinical benefits of curcumin, a safe and effective compound isolated from the turmeric root (a component of Indian curry spices), which has been found to inhibit several potential disease pathways in Alzheimer's disease. Another purpose of this study is to determine how the addition of a physical exercise program in individuals with early memory problems may affect memory function or brain imaging and blood-based markers associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Currently it is unknown how the human brain reorganizes its network organization to generate conscious experience and cognitive activity after a period of unconsciousness. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess how cognitive activity is reconstructed after general anesthesia. The investigators hypothesize that the brain's transition from unconsciousness to consciousness and full cognition is a complex process that occurs over an extended period of time. Specifically, the investigators hypothesize the following order of cognitive reconstitution: responsiveness to command, attention, complex scanning and visual tracking, working memory, and executive function. Volunteers will be healthy participants who are anesthetized with commonly used anesthetic drugs as well as a non-anesthetized group to control for circadian influences. A total of 60 subjects will be recruited for this study. All subjects (male and female) will perform basic tests for cognition on a laptop computer at 30-minute intervals during this study. The testing battery to be administered was assembled to assess multiple cognitive functions in order to determine whether and how cognitive processes return to baseline function. Electroencephalogram (measuring brain electrical activity) data will be monitored and recorded during both anesthesia and cognitive testing, for subsequent analysis. This study is significant because it could lead to a better understanding of the neural correlates of human consciousness, as well as normal and abnormal conscious state transitions (including barriers to such transitions).

This study is to explore the effects of dexmedetomidine on postoperative cognitive dysfunction during one-lung ventilation in elder patients.

Lithium salts have been used for the treatment of psychiatric disorders for over five decades, mostly as a mood-stabilizing drug. Recent evidence points to the inhibition of the enzyme glycogen synthase kinase-3beta (GSK3) as one of its mechanisms of action. The overactivity of this enzyme has been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD), given its involvement in mechanisms related to the hyperphosphorylation of Tau protein and the production of beta-amyloid peptide. These are key events leading respectively to the formation of neurofibrillary tangles and senile plaques, which are the neuropathological hallmarks of the disease. Several in vitro and animal studies have shown that the inhibition of GSK3 by lithium and other agents attenuates these pathological processes, reinforcing the notion that GSK3 is a likely target for future disease-modifying therapies for AD. Indeed, a recent study published by our group showed that chronic lithium use is associated with a decrement in the expected prevalence of dementia, in a sample of elderly individuals with bipolar disorder. To investigate this putative neuroprotective effect in a prospective way, the investigators started 24-month randomized, double-blinded controlled trial of lithium for the prevention of dementia in a sample of elderly individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a condition associated with increased risk for the development of AD. The clinical and biological outcomes of this trial include the attenuation of cognitive deficits, and the modification of certain biological markers of the disease (as measured in the cerebrospinal fluid, leukocytes and platelets). The objective of the present application is to enable the extension of this ongoing trial to an additional 2-year follow-up. A longer follow-up (48 months) will increase the statistical power to ascertain the primary outcome variables of this study, particularly the con-version from MCI to Alzheimer's disease. This will warrant a more consistent conclusion about the potential of lithium treatment in the prevention of dementia, in addition to a better evaluation of safety and tolerability profiles of the long-term use of lithium in older individuals.

We have developed a training intervention that successfully improves older adults' memory. We have also shown that older adults whose memory is as good as younger adults' memory (Hi-Old) use an altered pattern of memory-related brain activity compared to younger adults, whereas healthy older adults with poorer memory (Lo-Old) do not. We have also shown that individuals with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) have impairments of conscious, effortful, Recollection-based memory processes, whereas their automatic, Familiarity-based memory processes are intact. Our primary current goal is to investigate whether our successful memory intervention will improve Recollection and produce induce altered patterns of brain activity in the Lo-Old and aMCI. Young, Lo-Old, Hi-Old, and aMCI will be scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing two memory tasks. Half of the Lo-Old and half of the aMCI will then receive the memory intervention, while the other half in each group will receive a control program consisting of information and games about aging. The Lo-Old and aMCI will then be rescanned while performing the two memory tasks. We predict that the memory intervention will improve performance on a number of memory tasks, and will induce altered patterns of brain activity. In the Lo-Old, their brain activity after the memory intervention will look more like the Hi-Old, while brain activity will become more focal in the aMCI.

This study investigates the interactions between NMDA (N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid) antagonism and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) system as it relates to cognitive function assessed by ERPs (event-related potentials) in healthy volunteers.

This study will examine the possible relationship between certain antibodies found in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and cognitive (thought processing) impairment in these patients. Antibodies are proteins produced by cells of the immune system to fight foreign invaders such as bacteria and viruses. In autoimmune diseases like SLE, however, the immune system produces antibodies against the body's own healthy tissues. Antibodies targeting the brain may cause cognitive dysfunction. Many patients with SLE have mild to severe cognitive impairment involving, for example, short- or long-term memory, thought processing and relating objects in time and space. Patients 18 years of age and older with SLE may be eligible for this study. Participants will undergo the following tests and procedures: Medical history and physical examination, including blood and urine tests Psychiatric interview and questionnaire to assess depression Neuropsychological tests - answering questions given by an examiner or filling out a test form or questionnaire Tests of cognitive function - answering questions given by an automated computer program or performing tasks using a computer mouse Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain - a test that uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to generate images of the brain. The patient lies still on a stretcher inside a cylinder containing a magnetic field. The patient's head is stabilized with a plastic strap and foam pads. During the imaging, a substance called gadolinium-DTPA is injected into an arm vein through a catheter (thin plastic tube). This substance is used to enhance the images. Patients may also be asked to undergo an optional procedure called a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to examine the relationship between cognitive impairment and the amount of antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)- fluid that circulates around the brain and spinal cord. For this procedure a small area of skin on the lower back is numbed with a local anesthetic. A needle is then inserted in the space between the bones in the lower back, and about 2 tablespoons of CSF is withdrawn through the needle.

Muscle relaxation has been reported to be effective in alleviating anxiety and agitation symptoms in patients with dementia, but no studies have examined the effects of muscle relaxation therapy on cognitive function changes. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to compare and validate the improvement of cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment and early alzheimer's dementia aged 50 to 85 years after performing muscle relaxation machine massage regularly.

Post-operative cognitive dysfunction is a common disease in patient undergoing general anaesthesia, especially in older patients. No correlations have been yet studied between intraoperative hypothermia and incidence of Post-operative cognitive dysfunction. Investigators are going to estimate the Relative Risk of Hypothermia and emergence of Post-operative cognitive dysfunction in cardiac-surgery patients.

Dexmedetomidine is a highly selective α2adrenoceptor agonist recently introduced to anesthesia that produces dose dependent sedation, anxiolysis, and analgesia (involving spinal and supraspinal sites) without respiratory depression. From a pharmacokinetic perspective,dexmedetomidine has a half life of nearly 2 hours, duration of action of nearly 4 hour, and thus, a side effect profile that is shorter in duration than clonidine. Esmolol is a cardioselective beta₁ receptor blocker with rapid onset, a very short duration of action (elimination half-life is approximately 9 minutes) , and no significant intrinsic sympathomimetic or membrane stabilising activity at therapeutic dosages