Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation as a Treatment for Veterans with Cognitive Impairment and Multiple Comorbidities.

Background: Despite decades of research efforts, current treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) are of limited effectiveness and do not halt the progression of the disease and associated cognitive decline. Studies have shown that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) may improve cognition.

Objective: We conducted a pilot study to investigate the effect of rTMS on cognitive function in Veterans with numerous medical comorbidities.

Moving back in the brain to drive the field forward: Targeting neurostimulation to different brain regions in animal models of depression and neurodegeneration.

Background: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is a promising noninvasive therapeutic tool for a variety of brain-related disorders. However, most therapeutic protocols target the anterior regions, leaving many other areas unexplored. There is a substantial therapeutic potential for stimulating various brain regions, which can be optimized in animal models.

The effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a protocol for a randomized, controlled three-arm trial.

Background: Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) carries a high risk of progression to Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia. Previous clinical trials testing whether cholinesterase inhibitors can slow the rate of progression from MCI to AD dementia have yielded disappointing results. However, recent studies of the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in AD have demonstrated improvements in cognitive function.

DTI measures identify mild and moderate TBI cases among patients with complex health problems: A receiver operating characteristic analysis of U.S. veterans.

Standard MRI methods are often inadequate for identifying mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). Advances in diffusion tensor imaging now provide potential biomarkers of TBI among white matter fascicles (tracts). However, it is still unclear which tracts are most pertinent to TBI diagnosis.

The influence of physical and mental health symptoms on Veterans' functional health status.

Veterans who have been deployed to combat often have complex medical histories including some combination of traumatic brain injury (TBI); mental health problems; and other chronic, medically unexplained symptoms (i.e., chronic multisymptom illness [CMI] clusters).

Longitudinal assessment of sleep disordered breathing in Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Purpose: Previous work has demonstrated the relatively high prevalence of risk factors for cognitive impairment, such as sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and obesity, in Vietnam War era veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). No data are currently available on the longitudinal stability of SDB as a risk factor for cognitive decline in that population, which this study now reports.

Methods: Sample consisted of 48 veterans of the Vietnam War with PTSD who completed longitudinal sleep assessments over a 3-year period.

Effects of body mass index-related disorders on cognition: preliminary results.

Background: Well-known risk factors for cognitive impairment are also associated with obesity. Research has highlighted genetic risk factors for obesity, yet the relationship of those risk factors with cognitive impairment is unknown. The objective of this study was to determine the associations between cognition, hypertension, diabetes, sleep-disordered breathing, and obesity.

Modeling the effects of obstructive sleep apnea and hypertension in Vietnam veterans with PTSD.

Purpose: The present work aimed to extend models suggesting that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with worse cognitive performance in community-dwelling older adults. We hypothesized that in addition to indices of OSA severity, hypertension is associated with worse cognitive performance in such adults.

Methods: The PTSD Apnea Clinical Study recruited 120 community-dwelling, male veterans diagnosed with PTSD, ages 55 and older.

Circadian clock gene polymorphisms and sleep-wake disturbance in Alzheimer disease.

Objectives: One of the hypothesized causes of the breakdown in sleep-wake consolidation often occurring in individuals with Alzheimer disease (AD) is the dysfunction of the circadian clock. The goal of this study is to report indices of sleep-wake function collected from individuals with AD in relation to relevant polymorphisms in circadian clock-related genes.

Design: One week of ad libitum ambulatory sleep data collection.

Sleep-disordered breathing in Vietnam veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Objective: : To study the prevalence of sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) in Vietnam- era veterans.

Methods: : This was an observational study of Vietnam-era veterans using unattended, overnight polysomnography, cognitive testing, and genetic measures.

Results: : A sample of 105 Vietnam-era veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder: 69% had an Apnea Hypopnea Index >10.