Memory and Executive Dysfunction Predict Complex Activities of Daily Living Impairment in Amnestic Multi-Domain Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Background: Specific cognitive alterations could be one of the predictors that lead to the complex activities of daily living (CADL) impairment in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and, hence, help to explain the continuum between MCI and dementia.

Objective: We aimed to reevaluate the existing uncertainty regarding the impact of memory and executive functions on CADL in patients with MCI.

Methods: Caregivers of 161 patients with amnestic multi-domain MCI and of 150 patients with incipient Alzheimer's disease as well as 100 age-, sex-, and education-matched controls, completed the Interview for Deterioration in Daily Living Activities in Dementia, a suitable instrument for the description and discrimination of CADL.

Neurological Disorders in Central Spain, Second Survey: Feasibility Pilot Observational Study.

Background: The Neurological Disorders in Central Spain, second survey (NEDICES-2) is a population-based, closed-cohort study that will include over 8000 subjects aged ≥55 years. It will also include a biobank.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate all major aspects of the NEDICES-2 (methods, database, screening instruments, and questionnaires, as well as interexpert rating of the neurological diagnoses) in each one of the planned areas (all of them in central Spain) and to test the possibility of obtaining biological samples from each participant.

Harmonization of the quantitative determination of volatile fatty acids profile in aqueous matrix samples by direct injection using gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography techniques: Multi-laboratory validation study.

The performance parameters of volatile fatty acids (VFAs) measurements were assessed for the first time by a multi-laboratory validation study among 13 laboratories. Two chromatographic techniques (GC and HPLC) and two quantification methods such as external and internal standard (ESTD/ISTD) were combined in three different methodologies GC/ESTD, HPLC/ESTD and GC/ISTD. Linearity evaluation of the calibration functions in a wide concentration range (10-1000mg/L) was carried out using different statistical parameters for the goodness of fit.

Methods and design of the baseline survey of the neurological disorders in Salamanca (NEDISA) cohort: a population-based study in Central-Western Spain.

Background: To describe the design of the baseline assessment of an epidemiological study of elderly persons living in Salamanca, central-western Spain: the Neurological Diseases in Salamanca (NEDISA) study. We assessed the epidemiology of stroke, cognitive disorders, essential tremor (ET), Parkinson's disease (PD) and restless legs syndrome.

Methods: In phase 1 (February 1 to May 31, 2007), 4 neurologists and 2 trained general physicians examined and performed phlebotomy on all participants.

Nonverbal memory tasks in early differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease and unipolar depression.

We examined whether there are selective deficits in early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD; n = 27) and in unipolar depression (UD; n = 17) patients on recall and recognition of spatial and visual components of nonverbal memory (NVM) and whether the two groups can be differentiated based on their performance on such tasks. We also investigated which NVM measures had the best discrimination power. We tested spatial, visuospatial, and visuoconstructive abilities in AD and UD patients.

Does the combination of the MMSE and clock drawing test (mini-clock) improve the detection of mild Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment?

There is currently a need to develop tools to identify patients with mild AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). We determined the validity and reliability of a brief, easily administered cognitive screening battery consisting of fusion of two well-known brief tests (Mini-Mental Status Examination [MMSE] and Clock Drawing Test [CDT]) (Mini-clock) to differentiate between patients with mild AD, MCI, and healthy control subjects. 66 consecutive patients with mild AD, 21 with MCI, and 66 healthy controls seen in a memory clinic setting were compared.

Improvement pattern in the clock drawing test in early Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: The aim of this paper was to compare the performance of a group of patients with early Alzheimer's disease (EAD) against a control group of healthy control (HC) subjects in the Clock Drawing Test (CDT), i.e. verbal command versus copying of a clock model presented to the subject.