Active clinical trials for "Alzheimer Disease"

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Lewy body's dementia (LBD) are two frequent neurodegenerative pathologies. They differ in their expression, their evolution but share same features which make their diagnosis uneasy. Constructional apraxia has been described in both disease.The underlying mechanisms have been less studied and could be different in AD and LBD. The definition of the constructional apraxia is purely descriptive and few models are inconclusive. It is admitted that drawing tasks involve visuo-perceptive and visuo-spatial abilities, executive functions and working memory as well as purely "constructive" skills. Regarding to different studies, visuo-perceptive abilities are more severely impaired in LBD than in AD and are considered as an early onset sign of the disease. Executive functions deficits are documented in AD and LDB and could contribute to the drawing impairment. It is possible to compensate the planning disorders in giving patient the best strategy to use. If drawing impairment persists, they should result of others mechanisms like visuo-perception, visuo-spatial or constructive deficits. The investigators suggest that giving the best planning strategy will help more AD patients who are supposed to fail in raison of an executive impairment, than the LDB group who is supposed to present visuo-perceptive deficits. An MRI will be proposed to study the cerebral areas involved in constructional apraxia.

Life expectancy in Brazil has increased markedly over the last 30 years. Hence, age-related disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), warrant special attention due to their high prevalence in the elderly. Pharmacologic treatment of AD is based on cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEI) and memantine, leading to modest clinical benefits both in the short and long-term. However, clinical response is heterogeneous and needs further investigation. Objective: To investigate the rate of response to ChEI in AD after three months of treatment. Methods: Patients with mild or moderate dementia due to probable AD or to AD associated with cerebrovascular disease were included in the study.

The central goal of this study is to determine and compare the similarities and differences in regional brain uptake of [18F]T807 in patients with typical Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Posterior Cortical Atrophy (PCA), and Logopenic Variant of Primary Progressive Aphasia (lvPPA). The investigators will correlate patterns of [18F]T807 binding with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based regional volumetric and cortical thickness measures. If cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) samples are not available, patients may be asked to get an optional lumbar puncture (LP) for additional comparisons. The investigators will recruit 20 participants, 45-70 years old, with clinical evidence of young onset focal dementia.

The purpose of this study is to find the characteristics of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using technology of Multi-Modality MRI , including structural MRI, functional MRI and diffusion tensor imaging(DTI). Then analyze the difference between progressive MCI (MCIp) and stable MCI (MCIs) and further construct the predictable classifier from MCI to Alzheimer's disease (AD) based on Multi-Modality MRI characteristics of MCI patients.

A clear association between type 2 diabetes (T2D) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been reported. This association is independent of vascular impairment, and therefore, it could be attributed to neurodegeneration triggered or accelerated by diabetes itself. At present there are no methods to identify T2D patients at risk for developing AD. The retina shares many features with the brain and, therefore, has been suggested as an easily accessible way of examining pathology in the brain. In fact, many patients with AD present retinal abnormalities. However, the diagnosis of diabetes, a condition frequently associated with retinal neurodegeneration, has not been considered. On this basis, the final aim of this proposal is to identify diabetic patients at risk for developing AD based on the assessment of retinal neurodegeneration by means of non-invasive tests. Specific aims: 1) To compare the prevalence of morphological and functional abnormalities related to retinal neurodegeneration among three groups of T2D patients: patients with AD, patients with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and patients without AD or MCI. 2) To assess whether the retinal neurodegenerative features are related to severity of AD. 3) To explore whether the combined retinal neurodegeneration in diabetic patients with AD has a different functional and/or morphological pattern in comparison with neurodegeneration secondary to diabetes alone. Methods: Case-control study. Retinal neurodegeneration will be assessed by mutifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). The potential confounders will be considered in data analyses. Feasibility: A unique multidisciplinary consortium has been created in order to warrant the feasibility of the project Expected impact: This innovative approach will fill a gap that currently exist in the health care system and will reduce the economic burden associated with T2D patients with AD. In addition, this project would be the backbone for future prospective studies.

The purpose of our study is to investigate CSF and blood biomarkers among the subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) as well as normal controls.

Antioxidants are important for having a good memory and for smart thinking when people get old, and that is important for everyone's quality of life. This research will find out if normal aging and Alzheimer's disease use up brain antioxidants. It will develop a new imaging tool that can help doctors to stop cognitive decline.

The purpose of this study is to assess decision-making capacity in persons with Alzheimer's disease. First, our goal is to validate four French capacity assessment tools for persons with Alzheimer's Disease : a French version of the Competency Assessment Tool for Consent to Treatment and of the Competency Assessment Tool for Voting, two questionnaires assessing the capacity to appoint a proxy either to consent to treatment or to vote. Second, once validated, we plan these questionnaires to study decision-making abilities and their determinants in persons with Alzheimer's disease and control subjects.

The global aim of our study is to validate eye movement recording as an early differential diagnostic tool, in order to discriminate as early as possible between neurodegenerative dementias of Alzheimer type and depressive pseudodementias (DPD). The investigators want to put forward idiosyncratic oculomotor characteristics of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and DPD respectively. Eye movements are sensitive markers of neurological diseases and can be used in a variety of clinical neurological syndromes. This study compares 3 groups of 98 patients: patients suffering of AD and DPD and healthy persons. The patients AD will be recruited in the Memory Centre of Resources and Research of Besançon and patients DPD will be selected in the psychiatric department of the University Hospital of Besançon. The control participants will be recruited from the entourage of researchers and patients. The selection of participants in the 3 different groups is based on clinical examinations in psychiatry and neurology and neuropsychological assessments. After giving informed consent, patients will be evaluated by a psychiatrist and a neuropsychologist. The complete assessment takes 150 minutes. After having set up patients, eye movements will be recorded using video-oculography techniques. The following tasks are performed: the basic dynamic eye movements (latency, hypometric and hypermetric saccades, reaction time, saccade speed, accuracy, pupil diameter) will be evaluated by the pro-saccade, anti-saccade and predictive saccade tasks. The emotional connotation tasks will be assessed by scan of images pair with emotional connotation and portrait analysis. The assessment takes 30 minutes. This study will include 3 groups: an Alzheimer group; a depressed group; a control group with healthy persons. The population of this study will be comprised of patients over age 60 with a visual acuity over 9/10, not diagnosed with eye disease and not neuropsychological sequelae that could disrupt the functioning oculomotor. These people will be recruited on a voluntary basis, after notification and consent in the research center, the Psychiatry Clinical Department of the University Hospital of Besançon. This study was conducted over a period of 36 months.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate sleep quality in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease treated with anticholinesterase drugs in clinical practice.