Distinguishing Alzheimer's Disease Patients and Biochemical Phenotype Analysis Using a Novel Serum Profiling Platform: Potential Involvement of the VWF/ADAMTS13 Axis.

It is important to develop minimally invasive biomarker platforms to help in the identification and monitoring of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Assisting in the understanding of biochemical mechanisms as well as identifying potential novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets would be an added benefit of such platforms. This study utilizes a simplified and novel serum profiling platform, using mass spectrometry (MS), to help distinguish AD patient groups (mild and moderate) and controls, as well as to aid in understanding of biochemical phenotypes and possible disease development.

Freezing of Gait in Parkinson's Disease: Risk Factors, Their Interactions, and Associated Nonmotor Symptoms.

Background: Freezing of gait (FOG) is a debilitating and incompletely understood symptom in Parkinson's disease (PD).

Objective: To determine the principal clinical factors predisposing to FOG in PD, their interactions, and associated nonmotor symptoms.

Methods: 164 PD subjects were assessed in a cross-sectional retrospective study, using the MDS-UPDRS scale, MMSE, and Clinical Dementia Rating Scale.

Pharmacological Management of Dementia with Lewy Bodies.

Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is a complex disease that involves a variety of cognitive, behavioral and neurological symptoms, including progressive memory loss, visual hallucinations, parkinsonism, cognitive fluctuations and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD). These symptoms may appear in varying combinations and levels of severity in each patient who is seen in the clinic, making diagnosis and treatment a challenge. DLB is the third most common of all the neurodegenerative diseases behind both Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease (PD).

Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Cerebral Oxygenation During Sleep in Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment.

The current study examined relationships between laterality in cerebral oxygenation (L-COX), sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), and daytime function in 16 adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). All participants underwent two nights of diagnostic polysomnography. Using dual-cerebral oximetry, L-COX was defined by differences ≥4% in right- versus left-sided percent cerebral oxyhemoglobin saturation.

Importance of Balance-Gait Disorder as a Risk Factor for Cognitive Impairment, Dementia and Related Non-Motor Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease.

Background: In Parkinson's disease (PD), postural instability-gait disorder (PIGD) has been associated with more rapid cognitive decline, dementia, and greater non-motor symptom (NMS) burden.

Objective: To assess the importance of balance-gait disorder, relative to and in combination with other clinical measures, as a risk factor for cognitive impairment, dementia and NMS burden in PD.

Methods: 164 PD subjects were evaluated in a retrospective cross-sectional study using the MDS-UPDRS scale, MMSE and Clinical Dementia Rating Scale.

EEG fluctuations of wake and sleep in mild cognitive impairment.

Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI), a condition in which the memory functions of cognition are significantly impaired, is an established risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a tool capable of measuring the dynamics of the brain's neural networks, and is thus an important means in analysis and understanding of aMCI. In this proof-of-concept study, we compared the brain activation patterns of ten aMCI subjects with those of four healthy subjects during sleep by employing a 64-channel EEG data collection system.

Feasibility and accuracy of teleconcussion for acute evaluation of suspected concussion.

Objective: To assess the feasibility and accuracy of telemedical concussion evaluations (teleconcussion) for real-time athletic sideline assessment of concussion, as such assessment may address the gap in access some populations of athletes have to providers with expertise in concussion evaluation.

Methods: A cohort of 11 consecutive male collegiate football players with suspected concussion was assessed using Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC), King-Devick test (K-D), and modified Balance Error Scoring System (mBESS). A remote neurologist assessed each athlete using a telemedicine robot with real-time, 2-way audiovisual capabilities, while a sideline provider performed a simultaneous face-to-face assessment.

Memory loss: Five new things.

Purpose Of Review: Memory loss can be due to a wide variety of causes. We provide new information about the biology of common genetic and acquired causes of memory loss in older adults.

Recent Findings: New data are available about the genetics of Alzheimer disease (AD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and frontotemporal dementia.

Skill-building through Task-Oriented Motor Practice (STOMP) intervention for activities of daily living: study protocol for a randomized, single blinded clinical trial.

Background: Progressive disability in activities of daily living (ADL) is inevitable for people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Attempts to slow or prevent ADL disability have been unsuccessful despite making progress in behavioral training methods. Missing from this research is an emphasis on how we maximize a patient's engagement during training and the rigorous examination of implementation protocols (dosing and training methods) which may advantage learning in people with ADRD.

Instrumental activities of daily living performance and role satisfaction in people with and without mild cognitive impairment: a pilot project.

Objective: We investigated differences in observed performance of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) and self-reported satisfaction with social role performance between people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI) and age- and gender-matched control participants.

Method: We measured observed performance of 14 IADLs using the Independence, Safety, and Adequacy domains of the Performance Assessment of Self-Care Skills (PASS) and the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information Systems (PROMIS) to examine satisfaction with social role performance.

Results: Total PASS scores were significantly lower in participants with a-MCI (median=40.

Comment: Performance improvement with computer training in Parkinson disease.

Computer-based memory and attention training methods improve episodic recall in older adults who have amnestic mild cognitive impairment.(1,2) Memory and attention are highly interactive and interdependent processes due to their shared circuitry. The cognitive benefits of computer-based memory training appear to persist for at least 6 months.

Comparing Differences in ADL Outcomes for the STOMP Intervention for Dementia in the Natural Home Environment Versus a Clinic Environment.

Background: Few studies have examined structured rehabilitation techniques for improving activities of daily living in people with mild-moderate dementia. We sought to examine the advantages to delivering the Skill-building through Task-Oriented Motor Practice (STOMP) intervention in the home environment (versus the clinic), hypothesizing that ADL improvement would be significantly better, time to meeting goals would be faster and fewer displays of behavior would be noted.

Methods: Compared results of two quasi-experimental studies of STOMP, one completed in the home, one completed previously in a clinic.