Optical Coherence Tomography in Cerebral Amyloidosis
Alzheimer DiseaseDementia Alzheimers5 moreIn this observational study, the investigators aim to evaluate whether changes in the retinal and choroidal circulation, as assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) and the quantification of retinal amyloid deposits using auto-fluorescence and hyperspectral retinal imaging, are correlated with the degree and subtype of dementia and with the presence or absence of a positive amyloid scan. For this purpose, patients with established Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Lewy Body Dementia (LBD), as well as amyloid positive and amyloid negative Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and aged matched cognitively intact patients will be included in this cross-sectional study.
The Swedish BioFINDER Study
Mild Cognitive ImpairmentAlzheimer's Disease2 moreThe present study aims at combining biochemical methods with various types of imaging techniques to identify the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The main interest is to find markers associated with the very early steps in the pathology of this disease. The investigators shall thus screen for i) molecules in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and plasma specific for AD, and ii) brain imaging markers (e.g. MRI and PET) that correlate to detailed clinical assessments. Biomarkers of interest would then be useful to: Enable accurate detection of the disease early on. Such biomarkers need to specifically reflect the very early pathophysiology of AD and distinguish it from disorders with similar symptomatology, such as other types of dementia and major depression. The sensitivity and specificity of these biomarkers in combination with clinical assessment should be of at least 90%. Enable prediction of the course of events of the disease, such as the disease rate in individual patients. Biomarkers that can predict the pattern of future symptoms will be extremely valuable. Allow monitoring of early effects of new disease-modifying therapies (so-called surrogate biomarkers). Currently clinical therapeutic trials for AD require large patient groups together with long-term treatment. Both size of the groups and treatment time will be reduced with the help of surrogate biomarkers. Study the pathogenesis of the disease. Biomarkers can be used to investigate in detail early alterations in AD patients. For instance, changes in the levels of certain molecules in CSF together with genetic predisposition could then be correlated to clinical signs and changes detectable by brain imaging. This can lead to identification of new therapeutic targets that could easily be monitored in future trials.
Biomarkers in Neurodegenerative Diseases
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)Alzheimer Disease (AD)9 moreThe general purpose of this observational study is to examine biomarkers associated with the pathology of neurodegenerative diseases to potentially develop novel therapeutic approaches.
A Novel Machine Learning Algorithm to Predict the Lewy Body Dementias
DementiaParkinson's disease dementia (PDD) and Dementia with lewy bodies (DLB) are dementia syndromes that overlap in many clinical features, making their diagnosis difficult in clinical practice, particularly in advanced stages. We propose a machine learning algorithm, based only on non-invasively and easily in-the-clinic collectable predictors, to identify these disorders with a high prognostic performance.
Gait Disorders in Patients With Cognitive Decline
Gait DisordersNeurologicThe prevalence of neurodegenerative diseases will increase over the next decades driven by ageing population. It seems important to develop reliable, replicable and accessible diagnostic tools. This is a prospective study whose objective is to study the spatio-temporal parameters of gait in patients with Alzheimer's and Lewy body diseases. 64 patients were included in this study. A comparison of the two pathologies was conducted, followed by an analysis based on four groups (mild, severe Alzheimer's disease, mild, severe Lewy body disease) and a study of the severity of the diseases. To study these parameters, we used the Gaitrite treadmill. The analysis of spatio-temporal parameters of walking in Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body disease enables to identify discriminating variables between the two pathologies. The probability of suffering from an Alzheimer's disease decreases with the pace increase but increases with variations in length of the step, and with the rotation of the foot. While the probability of suffering from Lewy body disease increases with the pace, variations in the step duration, and the duration of double support. These results are interesting but do not allow to establish a diagnostic score for these two diseases. The monitoring of the variations of these parameters at individual level would probably be more relevant and would enable to detect dual pathologies.
Studies of Brain and Body Interaction
Autistic Disorders SpectrumAdhd9 moreThe goal of this study is to characterize biophysiolgoical signals as a comprehensive profile of the nervous systems in order to understand interactions between the brain and body, while an individual performs naturalistic behaviors (ex. walking, pointing) and while breathing at a slow controlled pace. The investigators aim to study these interactions among a variety of populations, from healthy individuals to those with disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder(s), including those who may also have an ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) diagnosis, Asperger's Syndrome, Alzheimer's Disease, and/or Fragile X syndrome