High definition transcranial direct current stimulation as an intervention for cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's dementia: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Recent disease-modifying treatments for Alzheimer's disease show promise to slow cognitive decline, but show no efficacy towards reducing symptoms already manifested.

Objectives: To investigate the efficacy of a novel noninvasive brain stimulation technique in modulating cognitive functioning in Alzheimer's dementia (AD).

Design: Pilot, randomized, double-blind, parallel, sham-controlled study SETTING: Clinical research site at UT Southwestern Medical Center PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-five participants with clinical diagnoses of AD were enrolled from cognition specialty clinics.

Repetitive head-injury exposure and later-in-life cognitive and emotional outcomes among former collegiate football players: a CLEAATS investigation.

This study measured the relationship between head-injury exposure and later-in-life cognitive and emotional symptoms in aging collegiate football players who participated in the College Level Aging Athlete Study. Linear regressions examined the relationship between various head-injury exposure variables (head-injury exposure estimate [HIEE], number of diagnosed concussions, and symptomatic hits to the head) and subjective cognitive function, objective cognitive function, and emotional/mood symptoms. Additional regressions evaluated the impact of emotional symptoms on subjective cognitive decline and objective cognitive function.

A Critical Review of Noninvasive Brain Stimulation Technologies in Alzheimer's Dementia and Primary Progressive Aphasia.

Multiple pharmacologic agents now have been approved in the United States and other countries as treatment to slow disease and clinical progression for Alzheimer's disease. Given these treatments have not been proven to lessen the cognitive deficits already manifested in the Alzheimer's Clinical Syndrome (ACS), and none are aimed for another debilitating dementia syndrome identified as primary progressive aphasia (PPA), there is an urgent need for new, safe, tolerable, and efficacious treatments to mitigate the cognitive deficits experienced in ACS and PPA. Noninvasive brain stimulation has shown promise for enhancing cognitive functioning, and there has been interest in its potential therapeutic value in ACS and PPA.

Verbal retrieval deficits due to traumatic brain injury are associated with changes in event related potentials during a Go-NoGo task.

Objective: Verbal retrieval (VR) deficits often occur after traumatic brain injury (TBI), but the mechanisms remain unclear. We examined how event-related potentials (ERPs) during a Go-NoGo task were associated with VR deficits.

Methods: Sixty veterans with a history of TBI underwent a neuropsychological battery and a Go-NoGo task with concurrent EEG recording.

Traumatic Brain Injury Characteristics Are Not Related to Neurocognitive Decline in Older Adults: A Nationwide Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Objective: Evaluate whether traumatic brain injury (TBI) characteristics, age of injury, or recency of injury predicts the course of neurocognitive decline and/or increases conversion rates to mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia.

Methods: Data were obtained from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center for participants 50-85 years old with 3-5 visits from 2015 to 2022, with or without TBI history (TBI+ = 508; TBI- = 2,382). Groups were stratified by self-reported TBI history (i.

Blood Markers in Relation to a History of Traumatic Brain Injury Across Stages of Cognitive Impairment in a Diverse Cohort.

Background: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) has been linked to multiple pathophysiological processes that could increase risk for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). However, the impact of prior TBI on blood biomarkers for ADRD remains unknown.

Objective: Using cross-sectional data, we assessed whether a history of TBI influences serum biomarkers in a diverse cohort (approximately 50% Hispanic) with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia.

Identification of Factors in Moderate-Severe TBI Related to a Functional Decline in Cognition Decades After Injury.

Objective: To investigate whether a functional decline in cognitive activities decades after moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (m-sTBI) might relate to injury features and/or lifetime health factors, some of which may emerge as consequences of the injury.

Design: Secondary analysis of the TBI Model Systems National Database, a prospective, multi-center, longitudinal study of patients with m-sTBI.

Setting: TBI Model Systems Centers.

History of traumatic brain injury does not alter course of neurocognitive decline in older adults with and without cognitive impairment.

Objective: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) history is associated with dementia risk, but it is unclear whether TBI history significantly hastens neurocognitive decline in older adults.

Method: Data were derived from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) data set. Participants with a history of TBI (TBI +; = 1,467) were matched to individuals without a history of TBI (TBI-; = 1,467) based on age (50-97, = 71.

No association between age beginning tackle football, or years played and neurocognitive performance later-in-life among older National Football League retirees.

Objective: In a retrospective cohort, we evaluated whether age beginning tackle football (ABTF) and more total years of playing football (TYPF) were associated with worse later-in-life neuropsychological change among older retired National Football League (NFL) players.

Method: Participants were 19 older NFL retirees aged 54-79, including 12 who returned for follow-up evaluation 15-51 months later. Mixed-linear models evaluated the association between ABTF/TYFP and baseline neuropsychological composite scores (executive functioning/attention/speed, language, memory), and neuropsychological composites over time.

Neurocognitive outcomes of older National Football League retirees.

Objective: Determine if head-injury exposure relates to later-in-life cognitive decline in older National Football League (NFL) retirees.

Method: NFL retirees (aged 50+) with or without cognitive impairment underwent baseline (n = 53) and follow-up (n = 29; 13-59 months later) neuropsychological evaluations. Cognitively normal (CN) retirees (n = 26) were age- and education-matched to healthy controls (n = 26).

Early vs. delayed evaluation and persisting concussion symptoms during recovery in adults.

Persisting concussion symptoms may adversely affect return to work and functioning in daily activities. This study compared adults who were initially evaluated < 30 days versus those evaluated ≥ 30 days following a concussion at a specialty concussion clinic to determine if delayed initial evaluation is associated with persisting symptoms during recovery. Participants (N = 205) 18 years of age and older who sustained a concussion and presented to a North Texas Concussion Registry (ConTex) clinic were evaluated at two time points: initial clinical visit and three-month follow-up.

Mild Traumatic Brain Injury Is Related to Elevated Cerebrospinal Fluid Tau in Alzheimer's Disease Dementia.

Few studies have examined an association between mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). For this reason, we compared an AD dementia group with an mTBI history (n = 10) to a matched AD control group (n = 20) on measures of cognitive function, cerebral glucose metabolism, and markers of amyloid and tau deposition. Only a trend and medium-to-large effect size for higher phosphorylated and total tau was identified for the mTBI group.

Predictors of Life Expectancy in Autopsy-Confirmed Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Life expectancy (LE) following Alzheimer's disease (AD) is highly variable. The literature to date is limited by smaller sample sizes and clinical diagnoses.

Objective: No study to date has evaluated predictors of AD LE in a retrospective large autopsy-confirmed sample, which was the primary objective of this study.

Resilience and recovery from sports related concussion in adolescents and young adults.

Introduction: Recovery and return to play are important milestones for athletes who sustain sport-related concussions (SRC). Several factors have been shown to influence resolution of post-concussion related symptoms (PCS), but resilience, a trait that reflects the ability to overcome adversity, is another factor that may influence recovery. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship of resilience with resolution of symptoms during recovery in adolescents and young adults following SRC.

Southwestern Assessment of Processing Speed (SWAPS): A new brief test with demographically-corrected norms in an ethnically and educationally diverse population.

. Neuropsychological measures of processing speed have long been used as sensitive indices of cognitive functioning. Most of these commonly used tests are proprietary, and there is a need for brief, freely available tools that can be used in diverse clinical and research settings.

Correction: A Quantitative Analysis of Social Media to Determine Trends in Brain Tumor Care and Treatment.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.7759/cureus.11530.

Frequency and Predictors of Traumatic Encephalopathy Syndrome in a Prospective Cohort of Retired Professional Athletes.

Traumatic encephalopathy syndrome (TES) is proposed to represent the long-term impact of repetitive head-injury exposure and the clinical manifestation of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This study aimed to evaluate the frequency of TES in a cohort of retired professional contact sport athletes, compare the frequency of TES to clinical consensus diagnoses, and identify predictors that increase the likelihood of TES diagnosis. Participants were 85 retired professional contact sport athletes from a prospective cohort at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the University of Texas at Dallas.

Traumatic brain injury alters neuropsychiatric symptomatology in all-cause dementia.

Introduction: Traumatic brain injury (TBI) may alter the course of neuropsychiatric symptom (NPS) onset during dementia development. The connection among TBI, NPS, and dementia progression is of increasing interest to researchers and clinicians.

Methods: Incidence of NPS was examined in participants with normal cognition who progressed to all-cause dementia based on whether TBI history was present (n = 130) or absent (n = 849).