Publications by authors named "Erica Weiss"

There are no published guidelines regarding remotely training research assistants (RAs) to conduct neuropsychological tests. With technological advances allowing for increased international collaboration within the medical and research communities, challenges often arise from such partnerships, including linguistic, cultural, and physical barriers. A notable challenge for supervising neuropsychologists in international projects is the physical distance from RAs, sites, and materials, making training/supervision of RAs and monitoring test data quite challenging.

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  • Around 40% of older adults (65+) face memory loss, particularly in episodic memory, raising the need to explore its genetic reasons.* -
  • A study of 742 Ashkenazi Jewish individuals revealed links between episodic memory decline and rare genetic variants in the ITSN1 and CRHR2 genes, alongside common Alzheimer's polygenic risk.* -
  • The findings suggest that different memory-related issues can arise from rare variants, highlighting new genetic risk factors and the need to understand the biological processes behind them.*
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  • The hypothalamus plays a crucial role in maintaining homeostasis and is linked to aging, with changes observed in mouse models leading to cognitive decline.
  • A study involving older adults used advanced imaging to explore the relationship between hypothalamic microstructure and neurocognitive factors, revealing that changes in mean diffusivity were age-related and correlated with decreased cortical thickness.
  • The research found that lower levels of fractional anisotropy in the hypothalamus may predict cognitive decline over time, marking the first evidence of a direct link between hypothalamic structure and cognitive aging in humans.
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Dementia is often undiagnosed in primary care, and even when diagnosed, untreated. The 5-Cog paradigm, a brief, culturally adept, cognitive detection tool paired with a clinical decision support may reduce barriers to improving dementia diagnosis and care. We performed a randomized controlled trial in primary care patients experiencing health disparities (racial/ethnic minorities and socioeconomically disadvantaged).

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  • - Approximately 40% of individuals over 65 experience memory loss, particularly affecting episodic memory, emphasizing the need to understand the genetic factors behind this decline.
  • - The research involved analyzing genetic variants in 742 older Ashkenazi Jewish participants, employing all-atom molecular dynamics simulations to explore the mechanisms associated with episodic memory decline.
  • - Findings revealed both common genetic risks for Alzheimer's Disease and unique rare variants linked to memory issues, highlighting different underlying mechanisms that could lead to varying memory pathologies.
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Cognition and gait share brain substrates in aging and dementia. Cognitive reserve (CR) allows individuals to cope with brain pathology and delay cognitive impairment and dementia. Yet, evidence for that CR is associated with age-related cognitive decline is mixed, and evidence for that CR is associated with age-related gait decline is limited.

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Objective: This study was undertaken to determine whether hippocampal T2 hyperintensity predicts sequelae of febrile status epilepticus, including hippocampal atrophy, sclerosis, and mesial temporal lobe epilepsy.

Methods: Acute magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was obtained within a mean of 4.4 (SD = 5.

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  • The study examined the effectiveness of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in identifying cognitive impairment in older adults from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, specifically in the Bronx, NY.* -
  • Researchers recruited 231 participants aged 65 and older, administering the MoCA in both Spanish and English, and used neuropsychological evaluations to determine their cognitive status, finding significant differences in average MoCA scores based on demographic factors.* -
  • The findings suggested that the standard cutoffs for MoCA scores were too high, resulting in many false positives for mild cognitive impairment (MCI); adjusted lower cutpoints for both language versions were proposed to enhance diagnostic accuracy.*
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Animal studies show aging varies between individuals as well as between organs within an individual, but whether this is true in humans and its effect on age-related diseases is unknown. We utilized levels of human blood plasma proteins originating from specific organs to measure organ-specific aging differences in living individuals. Using machine learning models, we analysed aging in 11 major organs and estimated organ age reproducibly in five independent cohorts encompassing 5,676 adults across the human lifespan.

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  • The Kerala Einstein Study (KES) is a research project aimed at understanding the early stages of cognitive decline, specifically the motoric cognitive risk syndrome (MCR), in older adults living in Kerala, India.
  • Initiated in 2008, the study plans to enroll 1,000 individuals aged 60 and above to identify risk factors related to MCR and compare profiles between urban and rural populations.
  • The research includes comprehensive assessments of cognitive and physical functions, medical backgrounds, lifestyle habits, and imaging tests to gather data on the prevalence and implications of predementia syndromes like MCR in the aging population of Kerala.
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Identification of novel, non-invasive, non-cognitive based markers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias are a global priority. Growing evidence suggests that Alzheimer's pathology manifests in sensory association areas well before appearing in neural regions involved in higher-order cognitive functions, such as memory. Previous investigations have not comprehensively examined the interplay of sensory, cognitive, and motor dysfunction with relation to AD progression.

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Background: Impairment in gait domains such as pace, rhythm, and variability are associated with falls, cognitive decline, and dementia. However, the longitudinal changes in these gait domains are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine age-related changes in gait domains overall and in those with cognitive impairment and mobility disability.

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Background The authors sought to compare the perioperative morbidity of Stage 1 phalloplasty with asynchronous vs concurrent hysterectomy among transmasculine patients. Methods This retrospective study included transmasculine patients undergoing Stage 1 phalloplasty with either asynchronous or concurrent hysterectomy at Kaiser Permanente Northern California from January 1, 2017, to September 9, 2019. The primary outcome was differences in surgical site infection rates.

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Cognitive impairment related to dementia is under-diagnosed in primary care despite availability of numerous cognitive assessment tools; under-diagnosis is more prevalent for members of racial and ethnic minority groups. Clinical decision-support systems may improve rates of primary care providers responding to positive cognitive assessments with appropriate follow-up. The 5-Cog study is a randomized controlled trial in 1200 predominantly Black and Hispanic older adults from an urban underserved community who are presenting to primary care with cognitive concerns.

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Background: Cognitive impairment, including dementia, is frequently under-detected in primary care. The Consortium for Detecting Cognitive Impairment, including Dementia (DetectCID) convenes three multidisciplinary teams that are testing novel paradigms to improve the frequency and quality of patient evaluations for detecting cognitive impairment in primary care and appropriate follow-up.

Objective: Our objective was to characterize the three paradigms, including similarities and differences, and to identify common key lessons from implementation.

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Unlabelled: The purpose of the Problem Adaptation Therapy - Montefiore Health System (PATH-MHS) pilot program was to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of PATH across a culturally, educationally, and functionally diverse cohort of older adults.

Methods: Clinicians referred 145 participants with depression and cognitive impairment to PATH-MHS. We completed analyses of the change in depression, disability and the association between baseline characteristics and remission of depression.

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Background: Gait and cognition decline with advancing age, and presage the onset of dementia. Yet, the relative trajectories of gait and cognitive decline in aging are poorly understood-particularly among those with the motoric cognitive risk (MCR) syndrome. This study compared changes in simple and complex gait performance and cognition, as a function of age and MCR.

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New therapies for symptoms in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are urgently needed. Prior studies suggest that transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), a noninvasive neuromodulatory method, may be a safe and potentially effective treatment, but conclusions have been limited by small-sample sizes and brief stimulation protocols. This double-blind randomized trial involving 100 older adults with mild-to-moderate AD examines effects of 6 months of at-home active tDCS or sham delivered over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.

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Background: Very few studies have explored the utility of subjective cognitive complaints (SCCs) in primary care settings.

Objective: We aim to investigate associations between SCCs (item-level), objective cognitive function (across domains and global), and mood in a diverse primary care population, including subjects with mild cognitive impairment.

Methods: We studied 199 (75.

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The Covid-19 pandemic forced providers to alter their delivery of care to special populations, including older adults with cognitive impairment. The Montefiore-Einstein Center for the Aging Brain, a specialty multidisciplinary center for the evaluation and management of patients with neurodegenerative disorders, developed a coordinated approach (Coordinated Care At Risk/Remote Elderly program [CCARRE]) to reach our diverse population during the initial Covid-19 crisis in New York City, USA. In the tele-evaluation of the first 85 patients seen with CCARRE, we recognized unique factors that could improve patient care, lessen burden and optimize access to community resources.

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Aging is a complex trait characterized by a diverse spectrum of endophenotypes. By utilizing the SomaScan proteomic platform in 1,025 participants of the LonGenity cohort (age range: 65-95, 55.7% females), we found that 754 of 4,265 proteins were associated with chronological age.

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While the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-1 (GH/IGF-1) pathway plays essential roles in growth and development, diminished signaling via this pathway in model organisms extends lifespan and health-span. In humans, circulating IGF-1 and IGF-binding proteins 3 and 1 (IGFBP-3 and 1), surrogate measures of GH/IGF-1 system activity, have not been consistently associated with morbidity and mortality. In a prospective cohort of independently-living older adults ( = 840, mean age 76.

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Objectives: To describe the psychometric properties of the Picture-based Memory Impairment Screen (PMIS) in a multidisciplinary memory disorder center serving an ethnically and educationally diverse community.

Design: Cross-sectional cohort study.

Setting: Montefiore Center for Aging Brain (CAB) PARTICIPANTS: Individuals with cognitive complaints (N=405; average age 76±10, 66% female).

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Objective: To characterize pretreatment behavioral problems and differential effects of initial therapy in children with childhood absence epilepsy (CAE).

Methods: The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was administered at baseline, week 16-20, and month 12 visits of a randomized double-blind trial of ethosuximide, lamotrigine, and valproate. Total problems score was the primary outcome measure.

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