Active clinical trials for "Cognitive Dysfunction"

This is a first feasibility study in order to test if deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) treatment with high frequency (10Hz) will improve the symptoms of patient MCI (Mild Cognitive impairment). The hypothesis of the study is that high frequency treatment with deep TMS will improve the daily functioning of patients who suffers from MCI.

SIVD is characterised by extensive cerebral white matter lesions (WML) and lacunar infarcts in deep grey and white matter structures. The relationship between SIVD and cognition is unclear, in part because of methodological inconsistencies across studies. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a non-invasive water diffusion technique and can be used for quantitatively measuring the degree and directionality of the displacement distribution of water molecules. 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) is a valuable tool for the assessment of several biochemical compounds in the brain in vivo, such as N-acetylaspartate (NAA), myoinositol (mI), Choline (Cho) and Creatine (Cr). There were few reports considering the relationship among MRS, DTI and cognitive impairment of SIVD. Combining MRS with DTI may provide valuable information about the pathophysiological changes underlying DTI abnormalities and help us to better understand the SIVD process. It has been proposed that the pathogenesis of SIVD related to cerebral small vessel disease caused by various mechanisms. Inflammation plays an important role in the pathogenesis of SIVD. The examination of inflammatory markers in relation to VaD might be benefit to early treatment. In this study we applied neuropsychological tests, conventional MRI scanning, DTI, 1H-MRS techniques and inflammatory markers to estimate neuropsychological profile and white matter characteristics of imaging in patients with SIVD. Moreover, the relationship between WML and cognitive function impairment was also investigated. It could be possible to gain reliable data which is benefit to early diagnosis and treatment of cognitive impairment in SIVD.

The 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.

The study proposes to analyze the difference in the rapidity of the recovery of post operative cognition immediately after extubation and 20, 40 and 60 minutes post extubation and neuropsychological complications (delirium) after 48 hours following general anesthesia using a prospective, randomized approach. Patients undergoing any type of surgery with the exception of cranial, cardiac or thoracic surgery can be enrolled in the study.

The goal of this project is to develop an early diagnostic test for Alzheimer's disease (AD) by monitoring loss of neurons and brain size reductions over a period of five years.

The aim of our study is the analysis of sleep phases and quality as well as the detection of respiratory pauses in subjects with cognitive disorder. To assess whether sleep quality is associated with the blood-brain barrier and Alzheimer's disease, which may be indicative of an early, non-invasively measurable change in brain activity in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.

The purpose of this study is to use a functional MRI (fMRI) index to compare the brain activity of healthy volunteers to that of people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease. The ultimate goal is to develop an early diagnostic tool for Alzheimer's disease. The study hypotheses are: The fMRI index will differentiate between Alzheimer's disease, non-Alzheimer's dementia, and healthy volunteers; The fMRI index will distinguish participants with MCI who convert to Alzheimer's disease from those who convert to a non-Alzheimer's dementia and those who remain stable; MCI participants with a lower fMRI index at baseline who convert will progress to Alzheimer's sooner than those with a higher fMRI index, and MCI participants with a faster rate of fMRI index decline who convert will have an earlier onset of Alzheimer's disease.

This trial is investigating if serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) use in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients will lead to a lower rate of progression to dementia. It's hypothesized that patients treated with an SSRI at the time of MCI diagnosis, without evidence of an active primary psychiatric condition other than neurocognitive disorder, will have a lower rate of progression to Alzheimer's disease dementia or to other types of dementia.

The objective of this study is to measure the frequency and clinical types of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia that occur among up to 150 military retirees with and without a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) among residents of the Armed Forces Retirement Home, Washington D.C. and the Veterans Home of California-Yountville. Investigators will compare the characteristics of dementia in those who have had a prior TBI to the characteristics in those without a history of TBI. It is our hypothesis that the dementia or MCI among those with prior TBI has distinct neuropsychological features that distinguishes it from those with dementia or MCI without a history of TBI.

The purpose is to investigate the COVID-19 prevalence, associated morbidity and long-term cognitive deficits in consecutive patients presenting with acute neurological symptoms