Homotaurine Effects on Hippocampal Volume Loss and Episodic Memory in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Homotaurine supplementation may have a positive effect on early Alzheimer's disease. Here, we investigated its potential neuroprotective effect on the hippocampus structure and episodic memory performances in amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI). Neuropsychological, clinical, and neuroimaging assessment in 11 treated and 22 untreated patients were performed at baseline and after 1 year.

The role of persistent and incident major depression on rate of cognitive deterioration in newly diagnosed Alzheimer's disease patients.

Depression may potentially impair the clinical course of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate cognitive progression of AD patients with or without major depressive episode (MDE). In this 1-year longitudinal follow-up study conducted in three Italian memory clinics, 119 newly diagnosed probable AD patients of mild severity, who were not undergoing treatment with an acetyl-cholinesterase inhibitor (AChEI), and had not been treated with psychotropic drugs in the last 2 years, were included.

Anosognosia in mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer's disease: frequency and neuropsychological correlates.

Objectives: To evaluate severity of anosognosia and to identify its neuropsychological correlates in preclinical and clinical Alzheimer's Disease (AD).

Methods: The Clinical Insight Rating Scale, the Anosognosia Questionnaire for Dementia (AQ-D), and the Mental Deterioration Battery were used to assess anosognosia and cognitive performances in mild AD (N = 38), amnesic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI; N = 35), and multiple domain MCI (md-MCI; N = 38).

Results: Patients with mild AD were more anosognosic than both MCI groups, which, however, did not differ from one other.

Occurrence of neuropsychiatric symptoms and psychiatric disorders in mild Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment subtypes.

Background: Neuropsychiatric disorders are common in cognitively impaired older persons, and associated with institutionalization and caregiver stress in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Few studies have compared the occurrence of both psychiatric disorders and neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) subtypes. We aimed to investigate the frequency of psychiatric disorders and neuropsychiatric symptoms in AD and MCI patients, compared to controls.

Prevalence of non-dementing cognitive disturbances and their association with vascular risk factors in an elderly population.

To assess the prevalence of "Cognitive Impairment No Dementia" (CIND) and circumscribed memory impairment (CMI) and to evaluate their association with vascular risk factors and stroke, we examined all people aged 65 years or over living in three rural Italian villages. The survey was conducted by means of a doorto-door 2-phase procedure. As phase 1 screening tests, we used the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), or the Mental Status Questionnaire (MSQ) for people with < 3 years of schooling.

T cell response to amyloid-beta and to mitochondrial antigens in Alzheimer's disease.

Despite the vast amount of literature on non-specific immune mechanisms in Alzheimer's disease (AD), little is known about the role of antigen-specific immune responses. We investigated T cell reactivity to fragment 1-42 of amyloid-beta (Abeta) and to N-terminal peptides of human mitochondrial and control microbial proteins. Thirty subjects with a diagnosis of probable AD according to NINCDS-ADRDA criteria and 30 sex- and age-matched healthy controls were enrolled.