Publications by authors named "James Schmeidler"

Background: The apolipoprotein E (, gene; apoE, protein) ε4 allele is the most common identified genetic risk factor for typical late-onset sporadic Alzheimer's disease (AD). Each ε4 allele roughly triples the relative risk for AD compared to that of the reference allele, ε3.

Methods: We have employed hyperspectral fluorescence imaging with an amyloidspecific, conformation-sensing probe, p-FTAA, to elucidate protein aggregate structure and morphology in fresh frozen prefrontal cortex samples from human postmortem AD brain tissue samples from patients homozygous for either ε3 or ε4.

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Aims: This randomized control trial compared an adaptive computerized cognitive training intervention with a non-adaptive version. The primary hypothesis predicted better diabetes self-management in type 2 diabetes patients at 6 months post-intervention than baseline in the adaptive arm, with seven secondary outcomes.

Methods: Intent-to-treat analysis of veterans without dementia aged 55+ from the Bronx, NY and Ann Arbor, MI (N = 90/per arm) used linear mixed model analyses.

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Introduction: Youth involved in the justice system have high rates of alcohol and other drug use, but limited treatment engagement. JJ-TRIALS tested implementation activities with community supervision (CS) and behavioral health (BH) agencies to improve screening, identification of substance use service need, referral, and treatment initiation and engagement, guided by the BH Services Cascade and EPIS frameworks. This paper summarizes intervention impacts on referrals to treatment among youth on CS.

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Childhood sexual assault (CSA) victimization and depression are global public health concerns that disproportionately affect youths involved in the juvenile justice system. Little research has examined the influence of CSA on the stability of depressive symptoms among repeat juvenile offenders. The present study tested a gendered model of the association between lifetime CSA victimization and depression for three time points: baseline juvenile assessment entry; second reentry; and third reentry.

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We investigated cognition in depersonalization-spectrum dissociative disorders without comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder to explore evidence for emotionally avoidant information processing. Forty-eight participants with DSM-IV dissociative disorder (DD) (Depersonalization Disorder - 37, Dissociative Disorder NOS -11), 36 participants with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and 56 healthy controls (HC) were administered the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS); the Weschler Memory Scale-III (WMS); and three Stroop tasks: the Standard Stroop, a selective-attention Emotional Stroop using neutral, dissociation, and trauma-related word categories, and a divided-attention Emotional Stroop using comparable words. Participants were also administered a paired-associates explicit and implicit memory test using emotionally neutral and negative words, before and after the Trier Social Stress Test.

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Background: Although clinical studies have shown an increased prevalence of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), a population-based epidemiologic study from Denmark found no increased risk of Alzheimer's disease in patients with glaucoma, and other studies have failed to demonstrate a link. However, a possible relationship between POAG and AD might manifest in their association with oral pathology. Dental caries, periodontal disease, stomatitis, and the related inflammatory burden increase AD risk, while oral pathology and the oral microbiome correlate with POAG vulnerability.

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: Scant research exists on the validity of self-reported marijuana use using biological assays among adolescents involved in the juvenile justice system. This exploratory study examined gender (sex) differences in underreporting of marijuana use and the impact of age, race/ethnicity, living situation, depression, family problems, sexual risk behaviors, previous drug treatment, and juvenile justice placement. : Self-reports of past year marijuana use were validated with urinalysis, and those testing positive for marijuana use were selected for study.

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Introduction: Associations of some risk factors with poor cognition, identified prior to age 75, are reduced or reversed in very old age. The Protected Survivor Model predicts this interaction due to enhanced survival of those with extended risk factor duration. In a younger sample, this study examines the association of cognition with the mean hemoglobin A1c risk factor over the time at risk, according to its duration.

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Justice-involved youth display higher prevalence rates of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), in comparison with youth in the general population, highlighting a critical public health concern. Individual factors are important predictors of STDs, but only provide a partial understanding of this public health issue. Communities experiencing higher levels of disorder and lower levels of cohesion tend to have fewer institutional resources available, which may impact sexual risk behavior and STDs.

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Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is prevalent in the general United States population, and in the veteran population. T2DM has consistently been linked to increased risk for cognitive impairment, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. Computerized cognitive training (CCT) is practical and inexpensive cognitive interventions that is an alternative to medication.

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Depression is highly prevalent in type 2 diabetes and is associated with lower adherence to medical treatments, worse glycemic control, and increased risk for diabetes-related complications. The mechanisms underlying depression in type 2 diabetes are unclear. The haptoglobin (Hp) genotype is associated with type 2 diabetes related complications including increased risk for cerebrovascular pathology and worse cognitive performance.

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ABSTRACTAssociations between high body mass index (BMI) and subsequent cognitive decline, reported in elderly averaging below age 75, become less consistent at older ages. We compared the associations of BMI with cognition in moderately old (ages 75-84, N = 154) and oldest-old (85+, N = 93) samples. BMI and cognition were assessed cross-sectionally in cognitively intact elderly (mean age = 84.

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Depression and cognitive impairment are highly prevalent in type 2 diabetes (T2D), yet little is known about how their relationship varies by sex. We examined this question in a large T2D sample (N = 897) of non-demented elderly (≥ 65) participating in the Israel Diabetes and Cognitive Decline (IDCD) Study. Cognition was evaluated by a comprehensive neuropsychological battery and depressive symptoms were assessed by the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS).

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Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a metabolic condition associated with poor clinical and cognitive outcomes including vascular disease, depressive symptoms, cognitive impairment, and dementia. In the general elderly population, depression has been consistently identified as a risk factor for cognitive impairment/decline. However, the association between depression and cognitive function in T2D has been understudied.

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Introduction: Some associations of high total cholesterol with dementia risk diminish as the outcome age-age at cognitive assessment-increases.

Methods: The Framingham Heart Study provided 1897 participants with intact cognition at entry. Cox regression analysis for incident marked cognitive decline included "time-dependent" coefficients, with associations between total cholesterol and covariates changing by outcome age.

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For some cardiovascular risk factors, association with risk for cognitive impairment observed in early old age is reduced, or paradoxically even reversed, as age of outcome increases. Successful cognitive aging is intact cognition in the oldest-old; we define resistant successful cognitive aging as successful cognitive aging despite high risk. The protected survivor model posits that a minority of the general population has a protective factor that mitigates the negative effect of a risk factor on successful cognitive aging for the unprotected majority.

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Objective: This study aimed to analyze the relationship of variability in hemoglobin A (HbA) over years with subsequent depressive symptoms.

Research Design And Methods: Subjects ( = 837) were participants of the Israel Diabetes and Cognitive Decline (IDCD) study, which aimed to examine the relationship of characteristics of long-term type 2 diabetes with cognitive decline. All pertain to a diabetes registry established in 1998, which contains an average of 18 HbA measurements per subject.

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Truant youth are likely to engage in a number of problem behaviors, including sexual risky behaviors. Previous research involving non-truant youth has found sexual risk behaviors to be related to marijuana use and depression, with differential effects for male and female youth. Using data collected in a NIDA funded, prospective intervention project, results are reported of a male-female, multi-group, longitudinal analysis of the relationships among truant youth baseline sexual risk behavior, marijuana use, and depression, and their sexual risk behavior over four follow-up time points.

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Based on problem-behavior theory (Jessor & Jessor, 1977), a second-order problem behavior model of delinquency, marijuana use, and risky sexual behavior over five waves was estimated among truant adolescents. The study also investigated the influence of the problem factor on future arrest charges and the effect of socio-demographics on problem behavior and future crime. Results confirm the existence of a second-order latent factor of problem behaviors.

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The issue of delinquency among truant youth is insufficiently documented in the literature. There is a need to elucidate this issue, and assess the efficacy of interventions to reduce this problem behavior. The present, NIDA-funded study addressed this gap by examining the impact of a Brief Intervention (BI), originally designed to address youth substance use, on their delinquent behavior over an 18-month follow-up period (for self-reported delinquency) and a 24-month follow-up period (for official record delinquency).

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Recent studies have indicated that innate immune signalling molecules are involved in late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) risk. Amyloid beta (Aβ) accumulates in AD brain, and has been proposed to act as a trigger of innate immune responses. Caspase-4 is an important part of the innate immune response.

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Introduction: Waist circumference is associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cognition, yet the relationship between waist circumference and cognition in individuals with T2D is not well understood.

Methods: We studied the relationship of waist circumference with five cognitive outcomes (executive functioning, language/semantic categorization, attention/working memory, episodic memory, and an overall cognition measure) in 845 cognitively normal elderly with type 2 diabetes (T2D).

Results: In women, waist circumference was correlated with significantly lower language and/or semantic categorization performance (P < .

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In recent years, several promising susceptibility loci for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) were discovered, by implementing genome-wide association studies (GWAS) approach. Recent GWAS meta-analysis has demonstrated the association of 19 loci (in addition to the APOE locus) with AD in the European ancestry population at genome-wide significance level. Since Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) is a substantial risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia, the 19 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that represent the 19 AD loci were studied for association with performance in episodic memory, a primary cognitive domain affected by AD, in a sample of 848 cognitively normal elderly Israeli Jewish T2D patients.

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To find associations of age, sex, and education with neuropsychological test performance in cognitively normal Spanish-speaking Costa Rican nonagenarians with little education; to provide norms; and to compare their performance with similar Puerto Ricans. For 95 Costa Ricans (90-102 years old, 0-6 years of education), multiple regression assessed associations with demographics of performance on six neuropsychological tests. Analyses of covariance compared them with 23 Puerto Ricans (90-99 years old).

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