Alzheimer's Imaging Consortium.

Background: Financial exploitation vulnerability (FEV) denotes the risk for falling victim to financial fraud and older adults reportedly lose an estimated $36 billion annually to scams. Socioemotional and cognitive impairments are potential risk factors for FEV in older adults with dementia. The present study examines whether the socioemotional measures of sensitivity to unfairness and self-unawareness of socioemotional dysfunction and brain atrophy are associated with increased risk for FEV in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD).

Psychotropic medication usage in sporadic versus genetic behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia.

Introduction: Psychotropic medication (PM) use in behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is higher than in other dementias. However, no information exists on whether PM use differs between sporadic and genetic bvFTD.

Methods: We analyzed data from sporadic and genetic bvFTD participants with PM prescriptions in the Advancing Research and Treatment in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration/Longitudinal Evaluation of Familial Frontotemporal Dementia Subjects study.

Distinct Patterns of Socioemotional Dysfunction Relate to Aggressive Versus Nonaggressive Rule-breaking Antisocial Behaviors in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia.

Background: Antisocial behaviors occur in up to 91% of individuals with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Prior work has shown that antisocial behaviors can be differentiated into aggressive and nonaggressive rule-breaking behavioral subtypes. Socioemotional dysfunction is common in bvFTD and unique compared to other types of dementia.

Transdiagnostic Network Localization of Social, Language, and Motor Symptoms in Patients With Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration.

Background And Objectives: Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) includes different clinical syndromes with distinct patterns of symptoms and neuroanatomical locations of neurodegeneration. However, FTLD is clinically heterogeneous (with overlapping symptoms across several domains) and neuroanatomically heterogeneous (with brain atrophy in different locations in different patients). Traditional methods struggle to fully account for this heterogeneity.

A summary of the main themes and findings presented at the ASM Intermountain Branch meeting (2024).

The annual meeting for the Intermountain Branch was held in April 2024 on the campus of Brigham Young University. There were 127 branch members from Utah, Idaho, and Nevada who attended the meeting and were composed of undergraduate students, graduate or medical students, and faculty. This report highlights the diversity of, and the emerging trends in, the research conducted by American Society for Microbiology members in the Intermountain Branch.

Examining Associations Between Smartphone Use and Clinical Severity in Frontotemporal Dementia: Proof-of-Concept Study.

Background: Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) is a leading cause of dementia in individuals aged <65 years. Several challenges to conducting in-person evaluations in FTLD illustrate an urgent need to develop remote, accessible, and low-burden assessment techniques. Studies of unobtrusive monitoring of at-home computer use in older adults with mild cognitive impairment show that declining function is reflected in reduced computer use; however, associations with smartphone use are unknown.

Forensic Neurology and the Role of Neurologists in Forensic Evaluations.

Forensic psychiatrists may be asked to opine on neurological evidence or neurological diseases outside the scope of their expertise. This article discusses the value of involving experts trained in behavioral neurology in such cases. First, we describe the field of behavioral neurology and neuropsychiatry, the subspecialty available to both neurologists and psychiatrists focused on the behavioral, cognitive, and neuropsychiatric manifestations of neurological diseases.

Forensic Neurology: Practice Considerations and Training Opportunities.

Neurologic evidence, including MRI, PET, and EEG, has been introduced in more than 2,800 criminal cases in the past decade, including 12% of all murder trials and 25% of death penalty trials, to argue whether neurologic diseases are present, contribute to criminal behavior, and ultimately whether the defendant is less criminally responsible, competent to stand trial, or should receive a reduced punishment for his or her crime. Unfortunately, neurologists are often not involved in these criminal cases despite being the medical specialty with the most relevant training and expertise to address these issues for the court. Reasons for the absence of neurologists in criminal cases include a lack of awareness from lawyers, judges, and other expert witnesses on the value of including neurologists in forensic evaluations, and the lack of experience, training, and willingness of neurologists to work as expert witnesses in criminal cases.

A contactless cure: Leveraging telehealth to improve hepatitis C treatment at a safety-net hospital.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes significant mortality worldwide. HCV is highly curable but access to care is limited for many patients. The Grady Liver Clinic (GLC), a primary care-based HCV clinic, utilizes a multidisciplinary team to provide comprehensive care for a medically underserved patient population in Atlanta, Georgia.

Forensic neurology: a distinct subspecialty at the intersection of neurology, neuroscience and law.

Neurological evidence is increasingly used in criminal cases to argue that a defendant is less responsible for their behaviour, is not competent to stand trial or should receive a reduced punishment for the crime. Unfortunately, neurologists are rarely involved in such cases despite having the expertise to help to inform these decisions in court. In this Perspective, we advocate for the development of 'forensic neurology', a subspecialty of neurology focused on using neurological clinical and scientific expertise to address legal questions for the criminal justice system.

Network localization of antisocial behavior in neurological patients: Evidence and implications.

Antisocial behavior may develop in otherwise normal persons as a result of neurological diseases, including patients with focal brain lesions, frontotemporal dementia, and Parkinson Disease patients taking dopamine agonist medications. Evidence from these neurological patients demonstrates that antisocial behaviors relate to dysfunction in several different brain regions that form a specific brain network, rather than any single location alone. This network associated with acquired antisocial behavior is involved in social decision-making (measured using moral decision-making tasks) and value-based decision-making (measured using neuroeconomic and reward-based tasks).

Measuring Antisocial Behaviors in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia With a Novel Informant-Based Questionnaire.

Objective: Antisocial behaviors are common and problematic among patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). In the present study, the investigators aimed to validate an informant-based questionnaire developed to measure the extent and severity of antisocial behaviors among patients with dementia.

Methods: The Social Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ) was developed to measure 26 antisocial behaviors on a scale from absent (0) to very severe (5).

Large-Scale, Primary Care-Based Hepatitis C Treatment in an Urban, Medically Underserved Patient Population.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a critical public health concern in the United States. HCV is highly curable, but access to care is limited for many patients. Primary care models can expand access to HCV care.

Implementation of a Hepatocellular Carcinoma Screening Program for At-risk Patients Safety-Net Hospital: A Model for National Dissemination.

Objective: This study aimed to enhance hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening to achieve earlier diagnosis of patients with hepatitis C (HCV) cirrhosis in our Safety-Net population.

Background: Adherence to HCC screening guidelines at Safety-Net hospitals is poor. Only 23% of patients with HCC at our health system had a screening exam within 1-year of diagnosis and 46% presented with stage IV disease.

The epidemiological profile of meningitis among adults in a South African district hospital.

Introduction: understanding the epidemiological profile of a disease in a particular region allows for proper planning of public health resources for prevention, early diagnosis and treatment. In this present study, we describe the epidemiological profile of viral, fungal, tuberculous and bacterial meningitis among adults at National District Hospital (NDH), Free State province, over three years period (January 2017 to December 2019).

Methods: a retrospective, observational study of all adult meningitis cases, managed at the National District Hospital (NDH) Bloemfontein, Free State Province, South Africa between January 2017 and December 2019.

Factors that predict NCLEX-RN success at a Historically Black College and University: A four-year retrospective study.

Introduction: Ensuring NCLEX-RN success for graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is integral to increasing Blacks and other racial/ethnic minorities underrepresented as registered nurses (RNs).

Purpose: To examine the association between program type (traditional (TBSN) and accelerated Bachelor of Science [ABSN]) and first-time NCLEX-RN exam outcome.

Methods: A retrospective descriptive design was used.

Anosognosia and Memory Encoding in Huntington Disease.

Background: Anosognosia can manifest as an unawareness of neurobehavioral symptoms in individuals with Huntington disease (HD). Measurement of anosognosia is challenging, but the Anosognosia Scale (AS) represents a brief option with promising findings in small samples.

Objective: To replicate application of the AS in a larger HD sample than previous studies in order to assess psychometrics and demographic correlates and to investigate the genetic, motor, and neuropsychological correlates of the AS in individuals with HD.