Montreal Cognitive Assessment in Mild Cognitive Impairment: Relationship with Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers and Conversion to Dementia.

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered a prodromal state of dementia. Abnormal values of cerebrospinal fluid Alzheimer's disease biomarkers (CSF-AD-b) have been associated with a higher risk of conversion to dementia (due to Alzheimer's disease), but studies evaluating the ability of Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in this task are lacking.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the relationship between MoCA and CSF-AD-b, as well as the ability of those tools to predict conversion to dementia.

Blood biomarkers in mild cognitive impairment patients: Relationship between analytes and progression to Alzheimer disease dementia.

Background And Purpose: Blood-based biomarkers are promising tools for the diagnosis of Alzheimer disease (AD) at prodromal stages (mild cognitive impairment [MCI]) and are hoped to be implemented as screening tools for patients with cognitive complaints. In this work, we evaluated the potential of peripheral neurological biomarkers to predict progression to AD dementia and the relation between blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) AD markers in MCI patients referred from a general neurological department.

Methods: A group of 106 MCI patients followed at the Neurology Department of Coimbra University Hospital was included.

Lewy body dementia is associated with an increased risk of atrial fibrillation: A case-control study.

Background: Lewy bodies are a hallmark of Dementia with Lewy Bodies. They can also be found in the sinoatrial node and may be associated with heart disease.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate a possible association between Lewy Body dementia and atrial fibrillation.

Rare variants in TP73 in a frontotemporal dementia cohort link this gene with primary progressive aphasia phenotypes.

Background And Purpose: TP73 was recently reported to cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are considered to form part of a continuum. We aimed to investigate whether TP73 variants may be associated with FTD.

variant in focal cortical dysplasia: a case report and review of the literature.

Germline and 2-hit brain somatic variants in gene, a negative regulator of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway, are increasingly recognized in patients with focal cortical dysplasia (FCD). Next-generation targeted sequencing identified a heterozygous germline variant in gene (c.3241A>C, p.

Toulouse-Piéron Cancellation Test: Normative scores for the portuguese population.

The Toulouse-Piéron Cancelation Test (TP) is a classic psychometric tool for the assessment of selective/sustained attention, processing speed and visuo-perceptual abilities. It is commonly used in neurological disorders such as epilepsy, multiple sclerosis or Alzheimer's disease. It encompasses two main indexes: Work-Efficiency (WE) and Dispersion-Index (DI).

Neuropsychological features of progranulin-associated frontotemporal dementia: a nested case-control study.

The distinction between sporadic and genetic behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) regarding some neuropsychological (NP) features remains challenging. Specifically, progranulin (GRN)-associated bvFTD frequently presents with early episodic memory impairment and some degree of parietal dysfunction which are supporters of Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis. In this context, we aimed to characterize the NP profile of GRN-bvFTD as compared to sporadic-bvFTD and AD in patients with mild dementia (Mini-Mental State Examination score ≥ 17 and Clinical Dementia Rating Scale score ≤ 1.

APOEɛ4-TOMM40L Haplotype Increases the Risk of Mild Cognitive Impairment Conversion to Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has been considered as a pre-dementia stage, although the factors leading to Alzheimer's disease (AD) conversion remain controversial.

Objective: Evaluate whether TOMM40 poly-T (TOMM40' 523) polymorphism is associated with the risk and conversion time from MCI to AD and secondly with AD cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers, disentangling the APOE genotype.

Methods: 147 AD patients, 102 MCI patients, and 105 cognitively normal controls were genotyped for poly-T polymorphism.

Face-Specific Perceptual Distortions Reveal A View- and Orientation-Independent Face Template.

The spatial coordinate system in which a stimulus representation is embedded is known as its reference frame. Every visual representation has a reference frame [1], and the visual system uses a variety of reference frames to efficiently code visual information [e.g.

C-reactive protein as a predictor of mild cognitive impairment conversion into Alzheimer's disease dementia.

Background And Aims: Increasing evidence suggests that inflammation plays an important role in brain aging and neurodegeneration. Pathological studies demonstrate the presence of C-reactive protein (CRP) in the senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer's disease (AD) brain tissue suggesting that CRP may play a role in its neuropathological processes. Some findings suggest that midlife elevations of serum CRP are a risk factor for AD.

Lower CSF Amyloid-Beta Predicts a Higher Mortality Rate in Frontotemporal Dementia.

Frontotemporal lobar degeneration, the neuropathological substrate of frontotemporal dementia (FTD), is characterized by the deposition of protein aggregates, including tau. Evidence has shown concomitant amyloid pathology in some of these patients, which seems to contribute to a more aggressive disease. Our aim was to evaluate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid-beta as a predictor of the mortality of FTD patients.

Increased CSF tau is associated with a higher risk of seizures in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: Neurofibrillary tangles and tau protein, the neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD), have been identified in patients with epilepsy. Tau protein was also associated with the modulation of neuronal excitability in animal models of AD.

Materials And Methods: We evaluated in 292 patients with AD the association between the risk of seizure development and AD cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers, demographic characteristics, baseline Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score, comorbidities, and apolipoprotein E status.

Clock drawing test in mild cognitive impairment: Correlation with cerebral perfusion in single-photon emission computed tomography.

Objective: This study aimed to understand the relationship between the Clock Drawing Test (CDT) and decreased blood flow in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients, using single-photon emission computed tomography.

Method: We characterized regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and the correlation with clinical variables and future conversion to dementia in 94 amnestic MCI patients. Blood perfusion data was correlated with the CDT (quantitative and qualitative scores) in order to evaluate their relationship and usefulness in predicting conversion to dementia.

Association between Adipokines and Biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Adipose tissue dysfunction has been implicated in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease. However, the involvement of adipokines, particularly adiponectin, remains unclear.

Objective: To compare serum and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of adiponectin, leptin and leptin-to-adiponectin ratio in patients within the spectrum of Alzheimer's disease and evaluate their relationship with classical biomarkers and their value as markers of progression.

Erlangen Score as a tool to predict progression from mild cognitive impairment to dementia in Alzheimer's disease.

Background: The previously described and validated Erlangen Score (ES) algorithm enables interpretation of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD), ordering them on an ordinal scale: from neurochemically normal (ES = 0) through improbable AD (ES = 1), possible AD (ES = 2 or 3), to probable AD (ES = 4). Here we assess the accuracy of the ES in predicting hazards of progression from the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage of AD to the dementia stage of the disease (Alzheimer's disease dementia (ADD)) in a novel, single-center cohort.

Methods: Baseline CSF biomarkers (amyloid beta (Aβ) 1-42, Aβ42/40, Tau, and pTau181), interpreted according to the ES, were used to estimate time to progression from the MCI stage of AD to ADD, conditional on age, gender, APOE ε4 genotype, and Mini Mental State Examination score in 144 MCI subjects, using the Extended Cox Model; the subjects were followed-up until they developed dementia or until they had been cognitively stable for at least 2 years.

Discriminative capacity and construct validity of the Clock Drawing Test in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

The aim of this study was to analyze the psychometric and diagnostic properties of the Clock Drawing Test (CDT), scored according to the Babins, Rouleau, and Cahn scoring systems, for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) screening, and develop corresponding cutoff scores. Additionally, we assessed the construct validity of the CDT through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. We developed a cross-sectional study of ambulatory MCI and AD patients, divided in two clinical groups (450 MCI and 250 mild AD patients) and a normal control group ( = 400).

The Head Turning Sign in Dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment: Its Relationship to Cognition, Behavior, and Cerebrospinal Fluid Biomarkers.

Background/aims: The head turning sign (HTS) is frequently noticed in clinical practice, but few studies have investigated its etiological and neuropsychological correlates.

Methods: The presence and frequency of the HTS was operationalized and prospectively evaluated in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples for AD biomarkers were collected.

Validity and Clinical Utility of Different Clock Drawing Test Scoring Systems in Multiple Forms of Dementia.

The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) has a known potential for the detection of cognitive impairment in populations with dementia, especially Alzheimer disease (AD). Our aim was to compare the clinical utility of 3 CDT scoring systems (Rouleau, Cahn, and Babins) in several pathologies with cognitive compromise from a tertiary center memory clinic. We selected patients with a clinical diagnosis of mild stage AD, behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (FTD), vascular dementia (VaD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and Parkinson disease with dementia (PDD).

Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog): Normative Data for the Portuguese Population.

Introduction: The Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale - Cognitive Subscale is a brief battery developed to assess cognitive functioning in Alzheimer's disease that encompasses the core characteristics of cognitive decline (e.g. memory, language, praxis, constructive ability and orientation).

Validation study of the Alzheimer's disease assessment scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-Cog) for the Portuguese patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: The Alzheimer's disease assessment scale-Cognitive Subscale (ADAS-Cog) is a battery to assess cognitive performance in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and was developed according to the core characteristics of cognitive decline in AD: memory, language, praxis, constructive ability, and orientation. The aim of this study was to explore the diagnostic accuracy and discriminative capacity of the ADAS-Cog for Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and AD, using cut-off points for the Portuguese population.

Method: The European Portuguese version of the ADAS-Cog was administrated to 650 participants, divided into a control group (n = 210), an MCI group (n = 240), and an AD group (n = 200).

Underlying Biological Processes in Mild Cognitive Impairment: Amyloidosis Versus Neurodegeneration.

The amyloid cascade hypothesis proposes amyloid-β (Aβ) as the earliest and key pathological hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD), but this mandatory "amyloid-first pathway" has been contested. Longitudinal studies of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients represent an opportunity to investigate the intensity of underlying biological processes (amyloidosis versus neurodegeneration) and their relevance for progression to AD. We re-examined our cohort of amnestic MCI, grouped according to cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers, aiming at establishing their prognostic value for Alzheimer-type dementia and testing the hypothetical model of biomarkers sequence, based on the amyloid cascade.

Addition of the Aβ42/40 ratio to the cerebrospinal fluid biomarker profile increases the predictive value for underlying Alzheimer's disease dementia in mild cognitive impairment.

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers have been used to increase the evidence of underlying Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, CSF biomarker-based classification often results in conflicting profiles with controversial prognostic value. Normalization of the CSF Aβ42 concentration to the level of total amyloid beta (Aβ), using the Aβ42/40 ratio, has been shown to improve the distinction between AD and non-AD dementia.

[Mini-Mental State Examination: Screening and Diagnosis of Cognitive Decline, Using New Normative Data].

Introduction: The Mini-Mental State Examination is the most commonly used cognitive screening test. In Portugal, the cut-off scores are defined according to literacy groups, but different proposals have been recommended by more representative studies. We therefore propose to confirm the influence of demographical variables, such as age and education, in the subjectâs performance; evaluating the discriminant ability of the new normative data; and to further examine the diagnostic acuity of the validated cut-off scoring for mild cognitive impairment and for the most prevalent types of dementia.