Publications by authors named "Anton Porsteinsson"

Objectives: Among participants with Alzheimer's disease (AD) we estimated the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) in apathy symptom severity on three scales.

Design: Retrospective anchor- and distribution-based analyses of change in apathy symptom scores.

Setting: Apathy in Dementia Methylphenidate Trial (ADMET) and ADMET 2 randomized controlled trials conducted at three and ten clinics specialized in dementia care in United States and Canada, respectively.

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Article Synopsis
  • The APOLLOE4 trial is a Phase 3 study evaluating the safety and efficacy of the oral drug ALZ-801 in patients with early Alzheimer's disease (AD) who possess the high-risk apolipoprotein E ε4/ε4 genotype.
  • It enrolled 325 subjects aged 50-80, primarily with mild cognitive impairment, and aims to show a significant difference in cognitive function compared to a placebo over 78 weeks.
  • Expected topline results in 2024 could provide insights into ALZ-801 as a potential first effective treatment for this high-risk group.
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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive cognitive and functional decline. Nearly all patients with AD develop neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSs). Agitation is one of the most distressing and challenging NPS.

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Objectives: To examine clinically important adverse events (AEs) associated with methylphenidate (MPH) treatment of apathy in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) versus placebo, including weight loss, vital signs, falls, and insomnia.

Methods: The Apathy in Dementia Methylphenidate Trial 2 (ADMET2) trial was a multicenter randomized, placebo-controlled trial of MPH to treat apathy in individuals with apathy and AD. Participants in ADMET2 had vital signs and weight measured at monthly visits through 6 months.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers are creating hindbrain organoids from human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to explore how these systems behave in different patients, helping to examine disease progression and treatment responses.
  • Using iPSCs derived from healthy individuals and AD patients, they confirmed the presence of serotonergic neurons and found that different organoids showed variable reactions to the antidepressant escitalopram, indicating potential for personalized treatment approaches.
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Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative condition characterized by progressive cognitive deterioration, functional impairments, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Valiltramiprosate is a tramiprosate prodrug being investigated as a novel treatment for AD.

Areas Covered: The online databases PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, and ClinicalTrials.

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Introduction: Methylphenidate has been shown to improve apathy in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The authors evaluated the impact of methylphenidate on neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) of AD, excluding apathy, using data from the Apathy in Dementia Methylphenidate Trial 2 (ADMET 2) study.

Methods: A secondary analysis was conducted on data from the ADMET 2 study to determine the effect of methylphenidate on Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) scores outside of apathy.

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Objective: The Apathy in Dementia Methylphenidate Trial 2 (ADMET 2) found that methylphenidate was effective in treating apathy with a small-to-medium effect size but showed heterogeneity in response. We assessed clinical predictors of response to help determine individual likelihood of treatment benefit from methylphenidate.

Design: Univariate and multivariate analyses of 22 clinical predictors of response chosen a priori.

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Background: This paper used data from the Apathy in Dementia Methylphenidate Trial 2 (NCT02346201) to conduct a planned cost consequence analysis to investigate whether treatment of apathy with methylphenidate is economically attractive.

Methods: A total of 167 patients with clinically significant apathy randomized to either methylphenidate or placebo were included. The Resource Utilization in Dementia Lite instrument assessed resource utilization for the past 30 days and the EuroQol five dimension five level questionnaire assessed health utility at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months.

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Introduction: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) are associated with negative outcomes for patients and their care partners. Agitation is a common and distressing NPS, without safe and effective treatments. Nonpharmacological interventions are first line treatment, but not effective or appropriate for every patient.

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Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) cause distress to patients and caregivers, and accelerate progression to dementia. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising non-invasive treatment for NPS.

Objective/hypothesis: This pilot study assessed behavioral and neural effects of a 4-week anodal tDCS intervention targeting left sensorimotor cortex (LSMC: left precentral/postcentral gyri) during visual attention (compared to online sham tDCS), in 40 older adults (24 females, mean age = 71) with MCI.

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Study Objectives: To examine in a subsample at the screening phase of a clinical trial of a β-amyloid (Aβ) antibody whether disturbed sleep and altered 24-hour rest/activity rhythms (RARs) may serve as markers of preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: Overall, 26 Aβ-positive (Aβ+) and 33 Aβ-negative (Aβ-) cognitively unimpaired participants (mean age = 71.3 ± 4.

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Importance: Apathy, characterized by diminished will or initiative and one of the most prevalent neuropsychiatric symptoms in individuals with Alzheimer disease, is associated with significant caregiver burden, excess disability, increased medical costs, and mortality.

Objective: To measure whether methylphenidate compared with placebo decreases the severity of apathy in individuals with Alzheimer disease.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This multicenter randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted from August 2016 to July 2020 in 9 US clinics and 1 Canadian clinic specializing in dementia care.

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Importance: Cognitive training with components that can further enhance the transferred and long-term effects and slow the progress of dementia is needed for preventing dementia.

Objective: The goal of the study is to test whether improving autonomic nervous system (ANS) flexibility via a resonance frequency breathing (RFB) training will strengthen the effects of a visual speed of processing (VSOP) cognitive training on cognitive and brain function, and slow the progress of dementia in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Design: Stage II double-blinded randomized controlled trial.

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Introduction: Apathy is common in neurocognitive disorders (NCD) but NCD-specific diagnostic criteria are needed.

Methods: The International Society for CNS Clinical Trials Methodology Apathy Work Group convened an expert group and sought input from academia, health-care, industry, and regulatory bodies. A modified Delphi methodology was followed, and included an extensive literature review, two surveys, and two meetings at international conferences, culminating in a consensus meeting in 2019.

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Introduction: Hippocampal volume (HV) and cortical thickness are commonly used imaging biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease (AD) trials, and may have utility as selection criteria for enrichment strategies. Atrophy rates of these measures, in the high-risk apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4/ε4 homozygous AD subjects are unknown.

Methods: Data from Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI-1) and a tramiprosate trial were analyzed in APOE ε4/ε4 and APOE ε3/ε3 subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild AD.

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Article Synopsis
  • There's strong evidence that beta amyloid (Aβ) plays a key role in Alzheimer's disease, but only a few treatments have shown real success in trials.
  • Four promising agents – aducanumab, gantenerumab, BAN2401, and ALZ-801 – have unique characteristics and varying levels of effectiveness against Aβ.
  • The effectiveness of these treatments is influenced by their ability to target neurotoxic Aβ oligomers, with some focusing more on soluble forms while others help clear plaques, but higher doses can lead to side effects like brain edema, especially in certain patient groups.
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Background And Objectives: Computerized cognitive interventions (CCIs) have been increasingly implemented among older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, older individuals' attitudes toward technology may limit CCI engagement. This exploratory-developmental study examined whether a "multi-functional interactive computer system" (MICS), which provides pleasurable activities via computer, would improve attitudes toward computers and in turn increase the efficacy of a subsequent CCI.

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Background: Diagnostic criteria for apathy have been published but have yet to be evaluated in the context of clinical trials. The Apathy in Dementia Methylphenidate Trial 2 (ADMET 2) operationalized the diagnostic criteria for apathy (DCA) into a clinician-rated questionnaire informed by interviews with the patient and caregiver.

Objective: The goal of the present study was to compare the classification of apathy using the DCA with that using the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-apathy (NPI-apathy) subscale in ADMET 2.

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The public health burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is related not only to cognitive symptoms, but also to neuropsychiatric symptoms, including apathy. Apathy is defined as a quantitative reduction of goal-directed activity in comparison to a previous level of functioning and affects 30%-70% of persons with AD. Previous attempts to treat apathy in AD-both nonpharmacologically and pharmacologically-have been wanting.

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Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a disabling, common cause of dementia, and agitation is one of the most common and distressing symptoms for patients with AD. Escitalopram for agitation in Alzheimer's disease (S-CitAD) tests a novel, clinically derived therapeutic approach to treat agitation in patients with AD.

Methods: S-CitAD is a NIH-funded, investigator-initiated, randomized, multicenter clinical trial.

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Background: Developing non-pharmacological interventions with strong potential to prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in high-risk populations is critical. Aerobic exercise and cognitive training are two promising interventions. Aerobic exercise increases aerobic fitness, which in turn improves brain structure and function, while cognitive training improves selective brain function intensively.

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Article Synopsis
  • Researchers are focusing on creating biomarkers to differentiate Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients from those with normal cognition, which is essential for enhancing elderly health.
  • They utilized a methodology that combines brain spatial and temporal event-related potentials (ERPs) in order to improve identification accuracy for AD.
  • Findings show that integrating spatial data with temporospatial ERPs boosts classification accuracy, making ERPs a potential cost-effective, noninvasive tool for detecting AD and enhancing existing biomarker systems.
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