Spontaneous and perturbation-based EEG cortical excitability markers are associated with plasma p-tau181 concentration in healthy middle-aged adults.

In early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) amyloid-β (Aβ) deposition can induce neuronal hyperactivity, thereby potentially triggering activity-dependent neuronal secretion of phosphorylated tau (p-tau), ensuing tau aggregation and spread. Therefore, cortical excitability is a candidate biomarker for early AD detection. Moreover, lowering neuronal excitability could potentially complement strategies to reduce Aβ and tau buildup.

Structural connectivity modifications following deep brain stimulation of the subcallosal cingulate and nucleus accumbens in severe anorexia nervosa.

Purpose: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is a mental health disorder characterized by significant weight loss and associated medical and psychological comorbidities. Conventional treatments for severe AN have shown limited effectiveness, leading to the exploration of novel interventional strategies, including deep brain stimulation (DBS). However, the neural mechanisms driving DBS interventions, particularly in psychiatric conditions, remain uncertain.

Impact of repetitive negative thinking on subjective cognitive decline: insights into cognition and brain structure.

Introduction: Individuals with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) express concern about self-perceived cognitive decline despite no objective impairment and are at higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. Despite documented links between SCD and repetitive negative thinking (RNT), the specific impact of RNT on brain integrity and cognition in exacerbating the SCD condition remains unclear. We aimed to investigate the influence of RNT on global cognition and brain integrity, and their interrelationships among healthy middle-aged and older adults experiencing SCD.

Non-invasive prehabilitation to foster widespread fMRI cortical reorganization before brain tumor surgery: lessons from a case series.

Purpose: The objective of this prospective, single-centre case series was to investigate feasibility, clinical outcomes, and neural correlates of non-invasive Neuromodulation-Induced Cortical Prehabilitation (NICP) before brain tumor surgery. Previous studies have shown that gross total resection is paramount to increase life expectancy but is counterbalanced by the need of preserving critical functional areas. NICP aims at expanding functional margins for extensive tumor resection without functional sequelae.

Sex and gender differences in cognitive resilience to aging and Alzheimer's disease.

Sex and gender-biological and social constructs-significantly impact the prevalence of protective and risk factors, influencing the burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD; amyloid beta and tau) and other pathologies (e.g., cerebrovascular disease) which ultimately shape cognitive trajectories.

Lifestyle trajectories in middle-aged adults and their relationship with health indicators.

Introduction: Understanding the impact of different lifestyle trajectories on health preservation and disease risk is crucial for effective interventions.

Methods: This study analyzed lifestyle engagement over five years in 3,013 healthy adults aged 40-70 from the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative using K-means clustering. Nine modifiable risk factors were considered, including cognitive, physical, and social activity, vital plan, diet, obesity, smoking, alcohol consumption, and sleep.

Exploring the neural basis of non-invasive prehabilitation in brain tumour patients: An fMRI-based case report of language network plasticity.

Primary brain neoplasms are associated with elevated mortality and morbidity rates. Brain tumour surgery aims to achieve maximal tumour resection while minimizing damage to healthy brain tissue. Research on Neuromodulation Induced Cortical Prehabilitation (NICP) has highlighted the potential, before neurosurgery, of establishing new brain connections and transfer functional activity from one area of the brain to another.

Reduced default mode network effective connectivity in healthy aging is modulated by years of education.

Aging is a major risk factor for neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and Alzheimer's disease. Even in non-pathological aging, decline in cognitive functioning is observed in the majority of the elderly population, necessitating the importance of studying the processes involved in healthy aging in order to identify brain biomarkers that promote the conservation of functioning. The default mode network (DMN) has been of special interest to aging research due to its vulnerability to atrophy and functional decline over the course of aging.

Genome-wide QTL mapping across three tissues highlights several Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease loci potentially acting via DNA methylation.

DNA methylation (DNAm) is an epigenetic mark with essential roles in disease development and predisposition. Here, we created genome-wide maps of methylation quantitative trait loci (meQTL) in three peripheral tissues and used Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses to assess the potential causal relationships between DNAm and risk for two common neurodegenerative disorders, i.e.

"Guttmann Cognitest," a digital solution for assessing cognitive performance in adult population: A feasibility and usability pilot study.

Background: As the world population continues to age, the prevalence of neurological diseases, such as dementia, poses a significant challenge to society. Detecting cognitive impairment at an early stage is vital in preserving and enhancing cognitive function. Digital tools, particularly mHealth, offer a practical solution for large-scale population screening and prompt follow-up assessments of cognitive function, thus overcoming economic and time limitations.

Neuromodulation-induced prehabilitation to leverage neuroplasticity before brain tumor surgery: a single-cohort feasibility trial protocol.

Introduction: Neurosurgery for brain tumors needs to find a complex balance between the effective removal of targeted tissue and the preservation of surrounding brain areas. Neuromodulation-induced cortical prehabilitation (NICP) is a promising strategy that combines temporary inhibition of critical areas (virtual lesion) with intensive behavioral training to foster the activation of alternative brain resources. By progressively reducing the functional relevance of targeted areas, the goal is to facilitate resection with reduced risks of neurological sequelae.

Dense attention network identifies EEG abnormalities during working memory performance of patients with schizophrenia.

Introduction: Patients with schizophrenia typically exhibit deficits in working memory (WM) associated with abnormalities in brain activity. Alterations in the encoding, maintenance and retrieval phases of sequential WM tasks are well established. However, due to the heterogeneity of symptoms and complexity of its neurophysiological underpinnings, differential diagnosis remains a challenge.

Brain Connectivity Correlates of Cognitive Dispersion in a Healthy Middle-Aged Population: Influence of Subjective Cognitive Complaints.

Objectives: Cognitive dispersion, representing intraindividual fluctuations in cognitive performance, is associated with cognitive decline in advanced age. We sought to elucidate sociodemographic, neuropsychological, and brain connectivity correlates of cognitive dispersion in middle age, and further consider potential influences of the severity of subjective cognitive complaints (SCC).

Methods: Five hundred and twenty healthy volunteers from the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative (aged 40-66 years; 49.

Greater cognitive reserve is related to lower cortical excitability in healthy cognitive aging, but not in early clinical Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between cortico-motor excitability and cognitive reserve (CR) in cognitively unimpaired older adults (CU) and in older adults with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: Data were collected and analyzed from 15 CU and 24 amyloid-positive AD participants aged 50-90 years. A cognitive reserve questionnaire score (CRQ) assessed education, occupation, leisure activities, physical activities, and social engagement.

Tele-supervised home-based transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) for Alzheimer's disease: a pilot study.

Background: Over 55 million people worldwide are currently diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and live with debilitating episodic memory deficits. Current pharmacological treatments have limited efficacy. Recently, transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) has shown memory improvement in AD by normalizing high-frequency neuronal activity.

Multifocal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation in Primary Progressive Aphasia Does Not Provide a Clinical Benefit Over Speech Therapy.

Background: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) is a group of neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia characterized by language deterioration. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive intervention for brain dysfunction.

Objective: To evaluate the tolerability and efficacy of tDCS combined with speech therapy in the three variants of PPA.

COVID-19 after two years: trajectories of different components of mental health in the Spanish population.

Aims: Our study aimed to (1) identify trajectories on different mental health components during a two-year follow-up of the COVID-19 pandemic and contextualise them according to pandemic periods; (2) investigate the associations between mental health trajectories and several exposures, and determine whether there were differences among the different mental health outcomes regarding these associations.

Methods: We included 5535 healthy individuals, aged 40-65 years old, from the Barcelona Brain Health Initiative (BBHI). Growth mixture models (GMM) were fitted to classify individuals into different trajectories for three mental health-related outcomes (psychological distress, personal growth and loneliness).

Brain system segregation and pain catastrophizing in chronic pain progression.

Pain processing involves emotional and cognitive factors that can modify pain perception. Increasing evidence suggests that pain catastrophizing (PC) is implicated, through pain-related self-thoughts, in the maladaptive plastic changes related to the maintenance of chronic pain (CP). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have shown an association between CP and two main networks: default mode (DMN) and dorsoattentional (DAN).

Stakeholder engagement in European brain research: Experiences of the Lifebrain consortium.

Introduction: Stakeholder engagement remains scarce in basic brain research. However, it can greatly improve the relevance of investigations and accelerate the translation of study findings to policy. The Lifebrain consortium investigated risk and protective factors influencing brain health using cognition, lifestyle and imaging data from European cohorts.

Purpose in life promotes resilience to age-related brain burden in middle-aged adults.

Background: Disease-modifying agents to counteract cognitive impairment in older age remain elusive. Hence, identifying modifiable factors promoting resilience, as the capacity of the brain to maintain cognition and function with aging and disease, is paramount. In Alzheimer's disease (AD), education and occupation are typical cognitive reserve proxies.

The age-related contribution of cognitive function to dual-task gait in middle-aged adults in Spain: observations from a population-based study.

Background: Poor dual-task gait performance is associated with a risk of falls and cognitive decline in adults aged 65 years or older. When and why dual-task gait performance begins to deteriorate is unknown. This study aimed to characterise the relationships between age, dual-task gait, and cognitive function in middle age (ie, aged 40-64 years).