Unraveling the gut-brain connection: The association of microbiota-linked structural brain biomarkers with behavior and mental health.

Aim: The gut microbiota can influence human behavior. However, due to the massive multiple-testing problem, research into the relationship between microbiome ecosystems and the human brain faces drawbacks. This problem arises when attempting to correlate thousands of gut bacteria with thousands of brain voxels.

The nature of memory impairment in multiple sclerosis: understanding different patterns over the course of the disease.

Introduction: Memory deficit is one of the most common and severe cognitive impairments in patients with multiple sclerosis and can greatly affect their quality of life. However, there is currently no agreement as to the nature of memory deficit in multiple sclerosis.

Methods: This cross-sectional study, carried out at the Dr.

Differences in metacognition between multiple sclerosis phenotypes: cognitive impairment and fatigue are key factors.

Background: Cognitive impairment is present in 40-65% of patients with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). Objectively measured cognitive performance often does not match patients' subjective perception of their own performance.

Objective: We aimed to compare cognitive performance and subjective perception of cognitive deficits between pwMS and healthy controls (HCs), as well as the accuracy of subjective perception.

Oligoclonal IgM bands are a promising biomarker for long-term cognitive outcomes in multiple sclerosis.

Background: The presence of lipid-specific oligoclonal IgM bands (LS-OCMB) in cerebrospinal fluid is associated with a more severe clinical multiple sclerosis (MS) course.

Objective: To investigate LS-OCMB as a prognostic biomarker of cognitive long-term outcomes in MS.

Methods: Ninety-nine patients underwent neuropsychological assessment.

Microbiota alterations in proline metabolism impact depression.

The microbiota-gut-brain axis has emerged as a novel target in depression, a disorder with low treatment efficacy. However, the field is dominated by underpowered studies focusing on major depression not addressing microbiome functionality, compositional nature, or confounding factors. We applied a multi-omics approach combining pre-clinical models with three human cohorts including patients with mild depression.

Assessing the presence of oligoclonal IgM bands as a prognostic biomarker of cognitive decline in the early stages of multiple sclerosis.

Background: An association has been found between the presence of lipid-specific oligoclonal IgM bands (LS-OCMB) in cerebrospinal fluid and a more severe clinical multiple sclerosis course.

Objective: To investigate lipid-specific oligoclonal IgM bands as a prognostic biomarker of cognitive impairment in the early stages of multiple sclerosis.

Methods: Forty-four patients underwent neuropsychological assessment at baseline and 4 years.

Obesity-associated deficits in inhibitory control are phenocopied to mice through gut microbiota changes in one-carbon and aromatic amino acids metabolic pathways.

Background: Inhibitory control (IC) is critical to keep long-term goals in everyday life. Bidirectional relationships between IC deficits and obesity are behind unhealthy eating and physical exercise habits.

Methods: We studied gut microbiome composition and functionality, and plasma and faecal metabolomics in association with cognitive tests evaluating inhibitory control (Stroop test) and brain structure in a discovery (n=156), both cross-sectionally and longitudinally, and in an independent replication cohort (n=970).

Obesity Impairs Short-Term and Working Memory through Gut Microbial Metabolism of Aromatic Amino Acids.

The gut microbiome has been linked to fear extinction learning in animal models. Here, we aimed to explore the gut microbiome and memory domains according to obesity status. A specific microbiome profile associated with short-term memory, working memory, and the volume of the hippocampus and frontal regions of the brain differentially in human subjects with and without obesity.

The Aging Imageomics Study: rationale, design and baseline characteristics of the study population.

Biomarkers of aging are urgently needed to identify individuals at high risk of developing age-associated disease or disability. Growing evidence from population-based studies points to whole-body magnetic resonance imaging's (MRI) enormous potential for quantifying subclinical disease burden and for assessing changes that occur with aging in all organ systems. The Aging Imageomics Study aims to identify biomarkers of human aging by analyzing imaging, biopsychosocial, cardiovascular, metabolomic, lipidomic, and microbiome variables.

Glycated Hemoglobin, but not Insulin Sensitivity, is Associated with Memory in Subjects with Obesity.

Objective: Obesity has been related to later-life dementia. Serum glucose levels and insulin resistance are known to influence cognition in individuals with diabetes. This study aimed to evaluate memory function in middle-aged individuals with obesity in association with glucose metabolism and brain iron content.

Heterozygous mutation causes familial ataxia with cognitive affective syndrome (SCA48).

Objective: To describe a new spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA48) characterized by early cerebellar cognitive-affective syndrome (CCAS) and late-onset SCA.

Methods: This is a descriptive study of a family that has been followed for more than a decade with periodic neurologic and neuropsychological examinations, MRI, brain SPECT perfusion, and genetic analysis. Whole exome sequencing was performed in 3 affected and 1 unaffected family member and subsequently validated by linkage analysis of chromosome 16p13.

Resting-State Functional Connectivity Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Outcome After Acute Stroke.

Background and Purpose- Physiological effects of stroke are best assessed over entire brain networks rather than just focally at the site of structural damage. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging can map functional-anatomic networks by analyzing spontaneously correlated low-frequency activity fluctuations across the brain, but its potential usefulness in predicting functional outcome after acute stroke remains unknown. We assessed the ability of resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to predict functional outcome after acute stroke.

Cognitive impairment in early stages of multiple sclerosis is associated with high cerebrospinal fluid levels of chitinase 3-like 1 and neurofilament light chain.

Background And Purpose: Chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1) and neurofilament light chain (NF-L) are promising biomarkers of disability in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, their role in cognitive dysfunction remains elusive. Here, we aimed to correlate cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels of CHI3L1 and NF-L with cognitive status in MS.

Adherence to Clinical Practice Guidelines during Dementia Work-Up in a Real-World Setting: A Study from the Registry of Dementias of Girona.

Background: There are several position statements and clinical practice guidelines (CPG) for diagnosing dementia.

Objective: Our aims were to evaluate the adherence to CPG among specialists in the 7 memory clinics included in the Registry of Dementias of Girona (ReDeGi), and to compare the results between 2007-2011 and 2012-2015. We also determined the time and number of visits required to achieve a diagnosis, the supplementary tests ordered, and the drugs prescribed according to dementia subtypes.

Neuroinflammation in obesity: circulating lipopolysaccharide-binding protein associates with brain structure and cognitive performance.

Background/objectives: Growing evidence implicates neuroinflammation in the pathogenesis of diet-induced obesity and cognitive dysfunction in rodent models. Obesity is associated with reduced white matter integrity and cognitive decline. Circulating lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) concentration is known to be increased in patients with obesity.

The Gut Metagenome Changes in Parallel to Waist Circumference, Brain Iron Deposition, and Cognitive Function.

Context: Microbiota perturbations seem to exert modulatory effects on emotional behavior, stress-, and pain-modulation systems in adult animals; however, limited information is available in humans.

Objective: To study potential relationships among the gut metagenome, brain microstructure, and cognitive performance in middle-aged, apparently healthy, obese and nonobese subjects after weight changes.

Design: This is a longitudinal study over a 2-year period.

A randomized, controlled, single-blind, 6-month pilot study to evaluate the efficacy of MS-Line!: a cognitive rehabilitation programme for patients with multiple sclerosis.

Background: MS-Line! was created to provide an effective treatment for cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients.

Objective: To assess the efficacy of MS-Line!.

Methods: A randomized, controlled, single-blind, 6-month pilot study.

A new cognitive rehabilitation programme for patients with multiple sclerosis: the 'MS-line! Project'.

Background: Cognitive rehabilitation is often delayed in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective: To develop a free and specific cognitive rehabilitation programme for MS patients to be used from early stages that does not interfere with daily living activities.

Methods: MS-line!, cognitive rehabilitation materials consisting of written, manipulative and computer-based materials with difficulty levels developed by a multidisciplinary team.

Multidisciplinary management of multiple sclerosis symptoms.

Background: Effective management of multisymptomatic chronic diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS) requires a multimodal, interdisciplinary approach. At MS clinics, numerous healthcare specialties are coordinated to provide patients with quality clinical care for all aspects of their disease. Settings and resource availability may vary between countries.

Consumption of pharmaceuticals in primary non-Alzheimer's degenerative dementias : a cross-sectional study by the Registry of Dementias of Girona (ReDeGi).

Background: Limited information exists regarding the consumption of psychopharmaceuticals for non-Alzheimer's degenerative dementias (n-ADDs), despite the fact that the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms of these diseases is an important challenge for clinicians.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe sociodemographic and clinical data from 235 patients with various subtypes of n-ADD, together with the level of consumption of pharmaceuticals with central nervous system activity.

Methods: A descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted using the data registered by the Registry of Dementias of Girona, northeast Catalunya, Spain.

Long-term clinical and radiological evolution in one case of Susac's syndrome.

Susac's syndrome is a rare idiopathic microangiopathy affecting the precapillary arterioles of the brain, retina and cochlea leading to the clinical triad of encephalopathy, retinopathy and hearing loss. The objective of this study is to describe a new case of Susac's syndrome reactivated after a 12-year period with a good response to immunosuppressive therapy. The patient was a 32-year-old woman, complaining of diplopia, right blurred vision, progressive gait disturbance, tinnitus, attention deficit, and slight memory loss.

[Clinical and demographic characteristics of the cases of dementia diagnosed in the Health District of Girona throughout the period 2007-2010: data from the Girona Dementia Registry (ReDeGi)].

Introduction: The Girona Dementia Registry (ReDeGi, from Spanish: Registro de Demencias de Girona) is a population-based epidemiological surveillance mechanism that registers the cases of dementia diagnosed by the reference centres in the Girona Health District.

Aim: To report on the frequency of the diagnoses and their clinical and sociodemographic characteristics, as well as to compare differences depending on the different subtypes of dementia.

Patients And Methods: The method used consisted in a consecutive standardised register of the diagnoses involving dementia in specialised procedures in the Girona Health District between 2007 and 2010.

Higher incidence of mild cognitive impairment in familial hypercholesterolemia.

Objective: Hypercholesterolemia is an early risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptors might be involved in this disorder. Our objective was to determine the risk of mild cognitive impairment in a population of patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, a condition involving LDL receptor dysfunction and lifelong hypercholesterolemia.