The effectiveness of spaced retrieval combined with Montessori-based activities in improving the eating ability of residents with dementia.

Aims: To explore the long-term effects of standardized and individualized spaced retrieval combined with Montessori-based activities on the eating ability of residents with dementia.

Background: Eating difficulty is common in residents with dementia, resulting in low food intake, followed by eating dependence, weight loss and malnutrition.

Design: A single-blinded and quasi-experimental design with repeated measures.

[Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument, Chinese Version 2.0 (CASI C-2.0): administration and clinical application].

Abstract- The Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) has been commonly used in dementia research and clinical practice to evaluate a subject's cognitive abilities and to follow-up possible progression of dementia. It has a detailed manual for test administration and scoring in order to minimize testing errors. The Chinese version of CASI (CASI C-2.

Amyloid-beta (Aβ) D7H mutation increases oligomeric Aβ42 and alters properties of Aβ-zinc/copper assemblies.

Amyloid precursor protein (APP) mutations associated with familial Alzheimer's disease (AD) usually lead to increases in amyloid β-protein (Aβ) levels or aggregation. Here, we identified a novel APP mutation, located within the Aβ sequence (Aβ(D7H)), in a Taiwanese family with early onset AD and explored the pathogenicity of this mutation. Cellular and biochemical analysis reveal that this mutation increased Aβ production, Aβ42/40 ratio and prolonged Aβ42 oligomer state with higher neurotoxicity.

APOE ε4 increases the risk of progression from amnestic mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's disease among ethnic Chinese in Taiwan.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 in the progression from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to Alzheimer's disease (AD) in ethnic Chinese people in Taiwan.

Methods: Subjects older than 60 years with normal cognition, MCI or AD were enrolled from the memory clinic from 2000 to 2008. Normal ageing and MCI subjects were evaluated with clinical and neuropsychological examinations annually, and their APOE genotypes were determined.

Accelerated hippocampal atrophy rates in stable and progressive amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Studies suggest that smaller hippocampal volume predicts Alzheimer's disease (AD) in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, few studies have demonstrated decline rates in cognition and hippocampal volume in MCI subjects with stable clinical presentation. Furthermore, the effects of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) on the change rates of medial temporal structures and cognition in MCI are rarely investigated.

Survival of ethnic Chinese with Alzheimer's disease: a 5-year longitudinal study in Taiwan.

Survival time and mortality risk factors in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been documented in Western countries, but comparable information on the ethnic Chinese is scarce. We consecutively recruited 159 AD patients and 145 control subjects from the Memory Clinic of Taipei Veterans General Hospital. After admission to the study, each subject received clinical, neuropsychological, and psychiatric evaluation and apolipoprotein E genotyping.

Midlife risk factors for subtypes of dementia: a nested case-control study in Taiwan.

Objective: To identify the midlife risk factors for subtypes of dementia newly developed later in life.

Methods: A nested case-control study was conducted on 157 demented cases and 628 comparison cases selected from 40,636 men and women who were enrolled from 1982 to 1992. Four comparison cases were frequency-matched on age, time at enrollment (within 6 months), gender, and residential township.

Conversion to dementia from questionable dementia in an ethnic Chinese population.

We investigated the conversion rate and the risk factors for conversion to dementia from questionable dementia in 124 ethnic Chinese subjects with questionable dementia at a memory clinic of a university hospital. They were evaluated annually based on cognitive testing, the clinical dementia rating scale, and a psychiatrist's interview for depression and anxiety. Apolipoprotein E genotyping was performed on 111 of these questionable dementia subjects.

Evaluating the uses of the total score and the domain scores in the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument, Chinese version (CASI C-2.0): results of confirmatory factor analysis.

Background: The Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument (CASI) consists of items which are designed to measure the nine domains of cognitive ability. Its total score is used clinically to represent the overall underlying cognitive ability of the patient. This study aimed to evaluate the justification of the uses of the all-domain-total-score as an overall cognitive measure and the domain scores as measures of designated individual cognitive ability.

Behavioral and psychological symptoms in Taiwanese patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of and risk factors for behavioral and psychological symptoms in Taiwanese Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients.

Method: Consecutive AD patients from the Memory Clinic of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital were studied. Cognitive function was evaluated using the Chinese version of the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument.

Correlation between platelet amyloid precursor protein isoform ratio and cognition in Alzheimer's disease.

This study analyzed whether platelet amyloid beta-protein precursor (AbetaPP) isoform ratio correlates with cognition or cognitive decline in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD). Platelet AbetaPP isoform ratio was measured, and cognitive assessment was performed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in 66 AD patients at baseline (T0) and in 29 of these patients in a one-year follow-up (T1). There was a significant correlation between the AbetaPP isoform ratios and MMSE scores in the 66 AD patients at T0.

Magnetic resonance imaging segmentation techniques using batch-type learning vector quantization algorithms.

In this article, we propose batch-type learning vector quantization (LVQ) segmentation techniques for the magnetic resonance (MR) images. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) segmentation is an important technique to differentiate abnormal and normal tissues in MR image data. The proposed LVQ segmentation techniques are compared with the generalized Kohonen's competitive learning (GKCL) methods, which were proposed by Lin et al.

The MCI study in Taiwan.

Veterans General Hospital started study for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) since 1996. We used clinical dementia rating (CDR) of 0.5 to define our questionable dementia (QD) subjects.

Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy: two novel mutations in the NOTCH3 gene in Chinese.

Background: Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) is a hereditary disorder caused by NOTCH3 mutations, usually localized to exons 3 and 4, and characterized by recurrent subcortical infarctions, dementia and leukoencephalopathy. So far, there has been only limited information about CADASIL in Chinese population.

Objectives: To analyze the NOTCH3 mutations in ethnic Chinese in Taiwan with clinically suspected CADASIL and to characterize their clinical and molecular features.

The brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene as a possible susceptibility candidate for Alzheimer's disease in a chinese population.

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a member of the neurotrophic factor family, may represent a candidate gene conferring susceptibility to Alzheimer's disease (AD). This is because it has an important role in neuronal survival, and a decreased central level of BDNF is observed in AD. Some previous studies, though not all, have demonstrated that BDNF C270T polymorphisms might be associated with AD susceptibility.

Family members favor disclosing the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Past negative attitudes towards patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have changed in recent years. However, the disclosure of AD diagnosis to patients and family remains an unresolved issue. In this study, we surveyed the family members of neurological patients in Taiwan for the purpose of assessing their attitudes towards the disclosure of AD diagnosis.

Conceptualization and measurement of getting lost behavior in persons with early dementia.

Background: The primary purpose of this preliminary research was to describe the psychometric properties of a newly-developed Everyday Spatial Questionnaire for Dementia-patient version (ESQD-P) in a Chinese population. A secondary goal was to assess the relationship between executive functions and wayfinding strategy application. The ESQD-P is a measure for the phenomenon of 'getting lost behavior' (GLB) reported by early Alzheimer's disease sufferers, based on the concept of spatial problem-solving.

Cognitive reserve: a SPECT study of 132 Alzheimer's disease patients with an education range of 0-19 years.

This study examines the associations between education, cerebral perfusion, and cognitive test performance among 132 patients with Alzheimer's disease. The participants had had between 0 and 19 years of formal schooling, and had either mild or moderate dementia according to the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale. Cerebral perfusion was evaluated by the (99m)Tc-hexamethylpropylene amine oxime single photon emission computed tomography.

Association analysis for the muscarinic M1 receptor genetic polymorphisms and Alzheimer's disease.

In the ongoing search to reveal the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), the cholinergic system is important due to its role in cognitive function and its significance with respect to the results of postmortem pathology and animal model studies. For this investigation, we tested the hypothesis that the allelic variant (C267A) of the cholinergic receptor muscarinic 1 (CHRM1) confers susceptibility to AD or is related to its age of onset, in a sample population of 232 AD patients and 169 normal controls. The distribution of the CHRM1 genotypes (p = 0.

Polymorphisms of estrogen-metabolizing genes and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in Taiwan females.

Estrogen has been related to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this molecular epidemiological study, we used logistic regression to compare the genotype frequencies of estrogen-metabolizing genes that are involved in estrogen biogenesis (CYP17), hydroxylation (CYP1A1) and inactivation of the reactive metabolites (catechol-O-methyltransferase, COMT) in HCC patients and control subjects, and determined their relationship with the risk of female HCC. The heterozygous or homozygous variants of high activity CYP17 (A2), high inducibility CYP1A1(m1), and low activity COMT (L) alleles were considered as high-risk genotypes.

Improving the screening power of the cognitive abilities screening instrument, Chinese version.

The purpose of this study was to find means to increase the power of the Cognitive Abilities Screening Instrument, Chinese version (CASI C-2.0) in the screening of dementia. In assessing the performance of the CASI in dementia screening, it is a common practice to determine a cutoff score for the total CASI score and report the respective sensitivity and specificity.

Longitudinal cerebral perfusion decrease in mild alzheimer's disease revealed by SPECT with statistical parametric mapping method.

Fifteen patients with mild Alzheimer's disease received baseline and follow-up technetium-99m hexamethylpropylene amine oxime SPECT examinations paired with neuropsychological assessments, including the Cognitive Ability Screening Instruments (CASI). The differences between baseline and follow-up SPECT images were analyzed by the voxel-based paired t test of the statistical parametric mapping technique. A simple regression analysis was also conducted to analyze the correlation between CASI sub-scores and both sets of SPECT images.