Publications by authors named "Aarsland D"

Introduction: Society commonly believes that research knowledge is complementary to public decision-making. This study aimed to understand the perspectives and implications of dementia researchers communicating with policymakers and public research decision-makers (public officials).

Methods: This study uses 24 questions from an anonymous, online survey, which was received by 392 members of nine European, Latin American, and United States medical researcher associations/networks in the fields of age-related neurological degeneration and dementia medicine.

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Frailty complicates the care of individuals with dementia, increasing their vulnerability to adverse outcomes. This Personal View presents expert recommendations for managing frailty in individuals with dementia, aimed at health-care providers, particularly those in primary care. We conducted a rapid literature review followed by a consensus process involving 18 international experts on dementia and frailty.

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Introduction: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSs) are common in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) but their neurobiological mechanisms are poorly understood.

Methods: NPSs and cognition were assessed annually in participants (DLB n = 222; Alzheimer's disease [AD] n = 125) from the European DLB (E-DLB) Consortium, and plasma phosphorylated tau-181 (p-tau181) and p-tau231 concentrations were measured at baseline.

Results: Hallucinations, delusions, and depression were more common in DLB than in AD and, in a subgroup with longitudinal follow-up, persistent hallucinations and NPSs were associated with lower p-tau181 and p-tau231 in DLB.

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Introduction: We aimed to identify unique proteomic signatures of Alzheimer's disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD).

Methods: We conducted a comparative proteomic analysis of 33 post mortem brains from AD, DLB, and PDD individuals without dementia focusing on prefrontal, cingulate, and parietal cortices, using weighted gene co-expression network analyses with differential enrichment analysis.

Results: Network modules revealed hub proteins common to all dementias.

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Background: The novel South London and Maudsley Brain Health Clinic (SLaM BHC) leverages advances in remote consultations and biomarkers to provide a timely, cost-efficient and accurate diagnosis in mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Aims: To describe the organisation, patient cohort and acceptability of the remote diagnostic and interventional procedures.

Method: We describe the recruitment, consultation set-up, the clinical and biomarker programme, and the two online group interventions for cognitive wellbeing and lifestyle change.

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Background: Sarcopenia contributes to increased hospitalizations, cognitive impairment, falls, and all-cause mortality. Current diagnostic methods, like body Magnetic Resonance Imaging and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, are costly and impractical. Notably, there is no standardized approach for assessing sarcopenia in dementia clinics.

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Background: Telomere length (TL) has been linked to cognitive function, decline and dementia. This study aimed to explore whether both measured TL and genetic disposition for TL predict dimensions of cognitive performance in a longitudinal sample of older UK adults.

Methods: We analysed data from PROTECT study participants aged ≥50 years without a dementia diagnosis, who had completed longitudinal cognitive testing.

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Neural underpinnings of Parkinson's disease psychosis remain unclear to this day with relatively few studies and reviews available. Using a systematic review approach, here, we aimed to qualitatively synthesize evidence from studies investigating Parkinson's psychosis-specific alterations in brain structure, function or chemistry using different neuroimaging modalities. PubMed, Web of Science and Embase databases were searched for functional MRI (task-based and resting state), diffusion tensor imaging, PET and single-photon emission computed tomography studies comparing Parkinson's disease psychosis patients with Parkinson's patients without psychosis.

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Article Synopsis
  • * Findings reveal a strong connection between higher depressive symptoms and poorer cognitive performance, especially in episodic memory, alongside negative impacts on brain structure like reduced thalamic volume and white matter integrity.
  • * The study suggests that managing CVDs could be a potential strategy to prevent cognitive decline associated with depressive symptoms, emphasizing the importance of both mental and physical health in older adults.
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  • - Anxiety and depression are common yet often overlooked symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD), negatively affecting patients' functional outcomes over time.
  • - A study of 490 participants showed that those with anxiety and depression had lower functional scores and higher disease severity scores, and anxiety specifically led to a quicker start of dopamine therapy.
  • - Treating anxiety and depression in PD patients was linked to better health outcomes, including reduced medication dosages and improved functional scores, emphasizing the importance of recognizing and addressing these mental health issues.
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β-amyloid-targeting antibodies represent the first generation of effective causal treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and can be considered historical research milestones. Their effect sizes, side effects, implementation challenges and costs, however, have stimulated debates about their overall value. In this position statement academic clinicians of the European Alzheimer's Disease Consortium (EADC) discuss the critical relevance of introducing these new treatments in clinical care now.

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  • Very late-onset psychosis (VLOP) is linked to higher rates of dementia, but the risk of developing dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) in these patients was not previously known.
  • In a study involving 1,425 VLOP patients over an average of 4.29 years, 13.8% were later diagnosed with dementia, with 24.4% of these showing core features of DLB.
  • Key risk factors for developing dementia included older age and cognitive impairment at the onset of psychosis, with specific symptoms like visual hallucinations indicating an increased likelihood of DLB development.
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  • The study examines the prevalence of cerebrovascular and Alzheimer's disease co-pathologies in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies against various other cognitive states, including mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.
  • A multi-cohort dataset of 4,549 participants was analyzed, revealing that 43% of dementia with Lewy bodies patients had a high load of white matter hyperintensities, indicating a significant difference compared to other groups.
  • Findings showed that white matter hyperintensities in dementia with Lewy bodies correlate with medial temporal atrophy, suggesting that the impact of these co-pathologies is particularly pronounced in this group compared to others.
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The Remote Assessment of Disease and Relapse – Alzheimer’s Disease (RADAR-AD) consortium evaluated remote measurement technologies (RMTs) for assessing functional status in AD. The consortium engaged with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to obtain feedback on identification of meaningful functional domains, selection of RMTs and clinical study design to assess the feasibility of using RMTs in AD clinical studies. We summarized the feedback and the lessons learned to guide future projects.

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Background: The cognitive effects of sports-related concussion (SRC) have been the subject of vigorous debate but there has been little research into long-term outcomes in non-athlete populations.

Methods: This cohort study of UK community-dwelling adults (aged 50-90 years) was conducted between November 2015 and November 2020, with up to 4 years annual follow-up (n=15 214). Lifetime history of concussions was collected at baseline using the Brain Injury Screening Questionnaire.

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Background: Dementia poses a significant global health challenge. Anthocyanins neutralize free radicals, modulate signaling pathways, inhibit pro-inflammatory genes, and suppress cytokine production and may thus have positive cognitive effects in people at increased risk of dementia. We aim to investigate the effects of purified anthocyanins on cognitive function in people at increased risk of dementia according to their inflammation status based on blood-based inflammatory biomarkers.

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DailyColors™ is a supplement made up of several phytonutrients that aims to replicate elements from the Mediterranean diet. These include fruit, berry and vegetable extracts that are rich in key phytochemicals such as Quercetin, Catechins, Phloretin, Ellagic Acid, and Anthocyanins. Here, we determined the effects of DailyColors™ on the blood biomarkers associated with the diverse mechanisms implicated in ageing and age-related diseases, including mitochondrial function, inflammation, and oxidative stress, as well as on saliva's DNA methylation pattern.

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  • Recent research aimed to reevaluate the long-term risk of dementia in Parkinson's disease, using data from two large studies: PPMI and a cohort at the University of Pennsylvania.
  • The study assessed 417 participants from PPMI and 389 from the Penn cohort, analyzing dementia diagnoses over time using various cognitive assessments.
  • Results showed that by 10 years post-Parkinson's diagnosis, dementia probabilities were significantly lower than the previously cited 80%, with only 9-15% in the PPMI group and 47% diagnosed in the Penn cohort.
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Introduction: Previous studies have shown associations between cognitive function and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in older adults. Few studies have considered the extent to which a genetic predisposition for higher CRP levels contributes to this association.

Methods: Data was analyzed from 7,817 UK participants aged >50 years as part of the PROTECT study, within which adults without dementia completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery.

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Background: Cognitive deficits are associated with poor quality of life and increased risk of development of dementia in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) psychosis. The trajectory of cognitive decline in PD psychosis remains however unclear.

Objective: We examined this using data from the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative study.

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Article Synopsis
  • - The study aimed to review and estimate the incidence and relative risk of dementia in patients with Parkinson's disease (PDD), utilizing a meta-analysis of existing research following strict reporting guidelines.
  • - Out of 32 identified studies, the findings showed a pooled annual incidence rate of 4.5% for PDD and a relative risk 3.25 times higher for those with Parkinson's compared to healthy controls.
  • - Factors like patient age, year of study, and location contributed to inconsistencies in reported risks, with a call for future research to standardize methods and fill geographical research gaps.
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  • Depressive symptoms are linked to Alzheimer's disease (AD), but their connection to brain changes and cognitive performance is still unclear.
  • The study analyzed groups with subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment, measuring depressive symptoms and amyloid pathology using specific scales and tests.
  • Findings indicate that depressive symptoms are notably associated with worse memory in certain mild cognitive impairment cases, but not related to amyloid pathology or AD-related memory decline.
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Visual hallucinations in Lewy body disease (LBD) can be differentiated based on phenomenology into minor phenomena (MVH) and complex hallucinations (CVH). MVH include a variety of phenomena, such as illusions, presence and passage hallucinations occurring at early stages of LBD. The neural mechanisms of visual hallucinations are largely unknown.

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