Effect of Exercise, Endocannabinoids and Ketones on Cerebral Metabolism in a Cognitive Disorders...
Parkinson DiseaseAlzheimer DiseaseA two months intervention in which two groups of cognitive disorders, Parkinson and Alzheimer's disease, will receive 50g/day of a commercial MCT supplement combined with supervised aerobic exercise 3 times/week. Cognition and ketones will be assess before and after the intervention, along with endocannabinoids plasma concentrations.
β-AARC: Cohort Study for the Identification of Blood-based Biomarkers in a Population With Subjective...
Alzheimer DiseasePreclinical Alzheimer1 moreThe overall (cross-sectional) objective of this study is to detect and describe the profile of AD-related blood biomarkers in a population with SCD (including individuals with MCI) with the ultimate goal of investigating their capacity to predict underlying AD pathology. Longitudinally, the β-AARC_BBRC2021 study fundamentally aims at assessing the ability of AD-related blood-based biomarkers to predict disease progression in the Alzheimer's continuum. To achieve these cross-sectional and longitudinal objectives, an exhaustive set of clinical, risk factors, cognitive, mental health and neuroimaging data will be collected, as well as blood and CSF samples, from which AD-related fluid biomarkers will be determined. As a secondary objective, we will investigate the efficacy and accuracy of the Altoida NMI as a novel digital biomarker for identifying patients with SCD or MCI that have underlying AD pathology (cross-sectionally) and to test the capacity of the Altoida NMI to track disease progression in these popoulations (longitudinally).
A Clinical Trial to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Choline Alfoscerate in Vascular Cognitive...
Vascular Cognitive ImpairmentThis is a multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, Phase IV Trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Choline Alfoscerate compared to placebo in Mild Cognitive Impairment Patients with Cerebrovascular Disease
Improving Age-Related Cognitive Decline With Exercise in Hypertensive Older Adults
HypertensionThe investigator aims to assess the extent to which a brief exercise intervention improves systemic growth factor concentrations, reverses loss of systemic vascular networks and hypertension, and by extension, improves neurocognition. To test the investigator's hypothesis that increased cardiovascular fitness will correlate with improved vascular density, the investigator proposes the innovative use of retinal density scans.
Cognition and QoL After Thyroid Surgery
Thyroid NoduleThyroid Cancer4 moreThe development of cognitive dysfunction can profoundly affect HR-QoL as well as the possibility of societal participation and ability to work, and thereby relevantly impacts prospects for cancer survivorship. The aim of the study is to obtain improved understanding of the scope and magnitude of objective cognitive dysfunction in DTC survivors, and its relation to subjective cognitive dysfunction, thyroid hormone levels, physical activity and HRQoL. This is done in a prospective study where patients operated for a thyroid nodule (Bethesda IV-VI, i.e., benign [goitre with nodule and fibroadenomas], low-risk DTC and intermediate-high risk DTC) are included and asked to serially perform online neuropsychological testing as well as to complete questionnaires related to HR-QoL, physical activity and additional psychological and physical complaints. Blood is analysed for levels of thyroid hormones and systemic inflammation.
Corticostriatal Contributions to Parkinson's Disease Cognitive Impairment
Parkinson DiseaseThe goal of this study is to learn more about the brain activity underlying Parkinson's disease cognitive impairment. The investigators will utilize neural recordings from corticostriatal structures performed during deep brain stimulation surgery to measure neural activity underlying nonmotor symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
Change in Cognitive Function in Stimulant Users
Cognitive DysfunctionStimulant Use3 moreIn Hong Kong, methamphetamine use is common and cocaine use has increased steadily over the past few years. While the use of ketamine decreased from 35.8% in 2015 to 13.9% in 2017, methamphetamine and cocaine have become the most commonly used psychotropic substances and account for more than 50% of drug abuses cases in 2017. Among all stimulants, methamphetamine is most commonly used because it releases three times more dopamine than cocaine and the effects can last from eight to twelve hours, compared to two hours for cocaine. On top of its extreme effects, methamphetamine is relatively inexpensive, making it even more accessible to the young population. Misuse of methamphetamine has long been associated with profound psychological and cognitive disturbance. In reviewing the cognitive data from reasonably well-matched groups of chronic methamphetamine users and healthy controls, the majority of studies have found that chronic methamphetamine users had lower scores on at least some cognitive tests, although some studies are exceptions with entirely nonsignificant differences. A meta-analysis of 17 cross-sectional studies found that chronic methamphetamine users demonstrated significantly lower cognitive scores than healthy controls. The effects were largest for measures of learning, executive functions, memory, and processing speed, although the majority of cognitive domains significantly differed between the groups. Concerns has been emerging regarding the methodology of the aforementioned results. In particular, the appropriateness of using healthy controls to examine the cognitive effects of stimulant use has been questioned. Much of the published research has fallen victim to using controls with significant baseline differences from the chronic stimulant users, such as years of education. In addition, none of the studies available provided scatter plots of their cognitive data to evaluate the overlap in performance between chronic stimulant users and healthy controls. In fact, many chronic stimulant users have normal cognitive function when compared with normative data. Therefore, the use of the term 'impairment' or 'deficit' in many studies is not fully justified. Another limitation is that it cannot differentiate cognitive weaknesses that may predate stimulant use from those that result from it. Notably, longitudinal studies have shown that childhood deficits in executive function can predict drug abuse in adolescence, suggesting that at least some of the cognitive weaknesses pre-exist in chronic stimulant user. These and other limitations provoked a conclusion that the evidence for cognitive deficits in chronic stimulant users is weak. In order to overcome the methodological issues observed in previous cross-sectional studies, we propose to conduct a prospective studies to determine the change in cognitive function among stimulant users over time.
Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability
Cognitive ImpairmentDementiaThis multi-center (6 sites: Helsinki, Kuopio, Oulu, Seinäjoki, Turku, Vantaa) intervention study aims to prevent cognitive impairment, dementia and disability in 60-77 year old persons at an increased dementia risk. The 2-year multi-domain life-style intervention includes nutritional guidance, exercise, cognitive training, increased social activity, and intensive monitoring and management of metabolic and vascular risk factors. The primary outcome is cognitive impairment measured by a sensitive Neuropsychological Test Battery (NTB), and Stroop and Trail Making tests to capture early cognitive impairment typical for both Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia. We hypothesize that the multi-domain intervention will reduce cognitive impairment in the study group compared to the control group during the initial 2-year intervention period and reduce dementia incidence after the extended follow-up (until at least 300 participants have developed dementia).
Group Interval Fitness Program for Adolescents With Cognitive Impairments in the School Setting....
Cognitive ImpairmentThis study examines the outcomes of a group interval fitness program for secondary students with cognitive impairments in the school setting. It is well documented in the literature that individuals with cognitive impairments and medical conditions are at an increased risk for a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, and poor health-related fitness. These factors may further contribute to difficulties with planning for transitions from high school to young adulthood, independent or supported employment, and functional activities of daily living. An eight-week resistive exercise program was designed for secondary students with significant cognitive impairments who are participating in physical education classes as part of their standard curriculum. The goal of this study is to compare the outcomes related to strength, mobility, and functional activities for students in the intervention group compared to students who do not participate in this group interval program. This study investigates several important questions. Is a group fitness program effective in a school-based setting? Do individuals with cognitive impairments benefit from a group fitness program? Can a group fitness program correlate to functional and/or participation changes? With a group fitness program can changes be seen in lower extremity strength, upper extremity strength, grip strength, and mobility? How does a structured exercise group compare to a physical education class? Do physical education classes provide enough intensity for students with cognitive impairments?
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for MCI
Mild Cognitive ImpairmentDepressionThe goal of this phase II study is to establish the dose-response curves of a safe and clinically feasible non-invasive brain stimulation technique (accelerated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)) to improve both depression and cognitive function in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients with comorbid depression. It is known that TMS can effectively treat depression. Identifying the right dose of accelerated TMS in MCI patients is necessary prior to designing subsequent trials to determine efficacy. These results will inform future clinical trials of accelerated TMS for MCI, with the long-term goal of developing an efficacious treatment to prevent dementia.