Association Between Enlarged Perivascular Spaces and Cognition in a Memory Clinic Population.

Background And Objectives: Although enlarged perivascular spaces (EPVS) have been suggested as an emerging measure of small vessel disease (SVD) in the brain, their association with cognitive impairment is not yet clearly understood. We aimed to examine the relationship between each EPVS in the basal ganglia (BG-EPVS) and centrum semiovale (CSO-EPVS) with cognition in a memory clinic population.

Methods: Participants with a diverse cognitive spectrum were recruited from a university hospital memory clinic.

Region-specific association between basal blood insulin and cerebral glucose metabolism in older adults.

Background: Although previous studies have suggested that insulin plays a role in brain function, it still remains unclear whether or not insulin has a region-specific association with neuronal and synaptic activity in the living human brain. We investigated the regional pattern of association between basal blood insulin and resting-state cerebral glucose metabolism (CMglu), a proxy for neuronal and synaptic activity, in older adults.

Method: A total of 234 nondiabetic, cognitively normal (CN) older adults underwent comprehensive clinical assessment, resting-state 18F-fluodeoxyglucose (FDG)-positron emission tomography (PET) and blood sampling to determine overnight fasting blood insulin and glucose levels, as well as apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotyping.

Synergistic interaction between APOE and family history of Alzheimer's disease on cerebral amyloid deposition and glucose metabolism.

Background: Recently, the field of gene-gene or gene-environment interaction research appears to have gained growing interest, although it is seldom investigated in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Hence, the current study aims to investigate interaction effects of the key genetic and environmental risks-the apolipoprotein ε4 allele (APOE4) and family history of late-onset AD (FH)-on AD-related brain changes in cognitively normal (CN) middle-aged and older adults.

Methods: [C] Pittsburg compound-B (PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) imaging as well as [F] fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG) PET that were simultaneously taken with T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were obtained from 268 CNs from the Korean Brain Aging Study for Early Diagnosis and Prediction of AD (KBASE).

Korean Brain Aging Study for the Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimer's Disease: Methodology and Baseline Sample Characteristics.

Objective: The Korean Brain Aging Study for the Early Diagnosis and Prediction of Alzheimer's disease (KBASE) aimed to recruit 650 individuals, aged from 20 to 90 years, to search for new biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and to investigate how multi-faceted lifetime experiences and bodily changes contribute to the brain changes or brain pathologies related to the AD process.

Methods: All participants received comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological evaluations, multi-modal brain imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance angiography, [C]Pittsburgh compound B-positron emission tomography (PET), and [F]fluorodeoxyglucose-PET, blood and genetic marker analyses at baseline, and a subset of participants underwent actigraph monitoring and completed a sleep diary. Participants are to be followed annually with clinical and neuropsychological assessments, and biannually with the full KBASE assessment, including neuroimaging and laboratory tests.

Screening Ability of Subjective Memory Complaints, Informant-Reports for Cognitive Decline, and Their Combination in Memory Clinic Setting.

Objective: This study aimed to compare the accuracy of subjective memory complaints, informant-reports for cognitive declines, and their combination for screening cognitive disorders in memory clinic setting.

Methods: One-hundred thirtytwo cognitively normal (CN), 136 mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 546 dementia who visited the memory clinic in the Seoul National University Hospital underwent standardized clinical evaluation and comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. The Subjective Memory Complaints Questionnaire (SMCQ) and the Seoul Informant Report Questionnaire for Dementia (SIRQD) were used to assess subjective memory complaints and informant-reports for cognitive declines, respectively.

Differential effects of blood insulin and HbA1c on cerebral amyloid burden and neurodegeneration in nondiabetic cognitively normal older adults.

We tested the hypothesis that lower insulin or higher glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels in blood are associated with increased cerebral beta amyloid (Aβ) deposition and neurodegeneration in nondiabetic cognitively normal (CN) older adults. A total of 205 nondiabetic CN older adults underwent comprehensive clinical assessment, [C]Pittsburgh compound B (PiB)-positron emission tomography (PET), [F]fluorodeoxyglucose-PET, magnetic resonance imaging, and blood sampling for fasting insulin and HbA1c measurement. Lower blood insulin was significantly associated with increased Aβ positivity rates and decreased cerebral glucose metabolism in the AD-signature region.

Sex-specific association of sex hormones and gonadotropins, with brain amyloid and hippocampal neurodegeneration.

This study aimed to examine the sex-specific association between serum sex hormones and gonadotropins and the cerebral beta-amyloid (Aβ) burden and hippocampal neurodegeneration in subjects with normal cognition and impaired cognition. Two hundred sixty-five older subjects received clinical assessments, serum measurements of sex hormones, gonadotropins, C-Pittsburgh compound B-positron emission tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. In females, higher free testosterone and gonadotropin levels were associated with lower cerebral Aβ positivity.

Frequency of Depressive Syndromes in Elderly Individuals with No Cognitive Impairment, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer's Disease Dementia in a Memory Clinic Setting.

Aims: The aims of this study were to investigate the frequency of various depressive syndromes in elderly individuals with no cognitive impairment (NC), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease dementia (AD) in a memory clinic setting, and then to test whether severe and milder forms of depressive syndromes are differentially associated with the cognitive groups.

Methods: For 216 NC, 478 MCI, and 316 AD subjects, we investigated the frequency of depressive syndromes, defined by three different categories: major and minor depressive disorder (MaDD and MiDD) according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, as well as depression according to the National Institute of Mental Health provisional diagnostic criteria for depression in Alzheimer's disease (NIMH-dAD).

Results: The frequency of MaDD did not show any significant difference among NC, MCI, and AD.

Association of Cerebral Amyloidosis, Blood Pressure, and Neuronal Injury with Late-Life Onset Depression.

Previous literature suggests that Alzheimer's disease (AD) process may contribute to late-life onset depression (LLOD). Therefore, we investigated the association of LLOD with cerebral amyloidosis and neuronal injury, the two key brain changes in AD, along with vascular risks. Twenty nine non-demented individuals who first experienced major depressive disorder (MDD) after age of 60 years were included as LLOD subjects, and 27 non-demented elderly individuals without lifetime experience of MDD were included as normal controls (NC).

Differential patterns of regional cerebral hypometabolism according to the level of cerebral amyloid deposition in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Although amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) with high cerebral deposition of amyloid-beta proteins (Aβ) could be classified as a prodromal state of Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia, aMCI with the absence of or very little cerebral Aβ deposition is likely related to other pathophysiological processes. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the differential patterns of regional cerebral glucose metabolism (rCMglu) according to the level of Aβ burden in the brains of patients with aMCI. This study included 25 patients with aMCI and 33 cognitively normal (CN) elderly individuals who underwent a comprehensive clinical examination, (11)C-labelled Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) scans, and (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET scans.

Heterogeneity of Regional Brain Atrophy Patterns Associated with Distinct Progression Rates in Alzheimer's Disease.

We aimed to identify and characterize subtypes of Alzheimer's disease (AD) exhibiting different patterns of regional brain atrophy on MRI using age- and gender-specific norms of regional brain volumes. AD subjects included in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative study were classified into subtypes based on standardized values (Z-scores) of hippocampal and regional cortical volumes on MRI with reference to age- and gender-specific norms obtained from 222 cognitively normal (CN) subjects. Baseline and longitudinal changes of clinical characteristics over 2 years were compared across subtypes.

Functional neural correlates of figure copy and recall task performances in cognitively impaired individuals: an 18F-FDG-PET study.

Figure copy and recall tasks from the Benton Visual Retention Test (BVRT) and the Consortium to Establish a Registry of Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) neuropsychological battery are used widely to assess visuospatial function in cognitively impaired (CI) individuals. We aimed to identify functional neural correlates of figure copy and recall task performances as measured by the BVRT and the CERAD constructional praxis (CP) and CP recall (CR) in CI individuals. Both tasks were administered to 64 CI individuals with early or prodromal stage Alzheimer's disease and 36 cognitively normal individuals.

Functional Neuroanatomical Correlates of The Frontal Assessment Battery Performance in Alzheimer Disease: A FDG-PET Study.

Background/objectives: We aimed to elucidate the functional neuroanatomical correlates of Frontal Assessment Battery (FAB) performances by applying [(18)F]fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) to a large population of patients with Alzheimer disease (AD).

Methods: The FAB was administered to 177 patients with AD, and regional cerebral glucose metabolism (rCMglc) was measured by FDG-PET scan. Correlations between FAB scores and rCMglc were explored using both region-of-interest-based (ROI-based) and voxel-based approaches.