A novel speech analysis algorithm to detect cognitive impairment in a Spanish population.

Objective: Early detection of cognitive impairment in the elderly is crucial for diagnosis and appropriate care. Brief, cost-effective cognitive screening instruments are needed to help identify individuals who require further evaluation. This study presents preliminary data on a new screening technology using automated voice recording analysis software in a Spanish population.

Utility of a Short-Form Phonemic Fluency Task.

Objective: to establish a proof-of-concept and ascertain the reliability of an abbreviated 30-second (30s) phonemic fluency measure as a cognitive screening tool in older adults.

Methods: in all, 201 English-speaking individuals with normal cognition (NC; n = 119) or cognitive impairment (CI; mild CI or dementia; n = 82) were administered a standard 60s phonemic fluency task (FAS/CFL) with discrete 30s intervals denoted.

Results: for all letters, 30s trial scores significantly predicted 60s scores for the same letter, R2 = .

Integrating Lifestyle Factor Science into Neuropsychological Practice: A National Academy of Neuropsychology Education Paper.

Objective: The primary aim of this paper is to review evidence and clinical implications related to lifestyle activities associated with promoting brain and cognitive health. Our review targets four key lifestyle factors: physical activity and exercise, social engagement, cognitively stimulating activity, and consuming Mediterranean-style diets.

Method: We conducted a critical review of the lifestyle factor literature in the four domains listed earlier.

Tele-Neuropsychology: From Science to Policy to Practice.

Objective: The primary aim of this paper is to accelerate the number of randomized experimental studies of the reliability and validity in-home tele-neuropsychological testing (tele-np-t).

Method: We conducted a critical review of the tele-neuropsychology literature. We discuss this research in the context of the United States' public and private healthcare payer systems, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) coding system's telehealth lists, and existing disparities in healthcare access.

Impact of word properties on list learning: An explanatory item analysis.

Objective: A variety of factors affect list learning performance and relatively few studies have examined the impact of word selection on these tests. This study examines the effect of both language and memory processing of individual words on list learning.

Method: Item-response data from 1,219 participants, = 74.

Southwestern Assessment of Processing Speed (SWAPS): A new brief test with demographically-corrected norms in an ethnically and educationally diverse population.

. Neuropsychological measures of processing speed have long been used as sensitive indices of cognitive functioning. Most of these commonly used tests are proprietary, and there is a need for brief, freely available tools that can be used in diverse clinical and research settings.

Patient Satisfaction with Telephone Neuropsychological Assessment.

Objective: Telephone-based neuropsychological assessment (TeleNP) has been shown to be a valid alternative to in-person or video-based assessment. However, there is limited information regarding patients' satisfaction with TeleNP. This report presents satisfaction survey data from a diverse, clinical sample who received TeleNP during the coronavirus disease pandemic.

Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment Among Community-Dwelling African Americans Using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.

Objective: To establish a cut score for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) that distinguishes mild cognitive impairment (MCI) from normal cognition (NC) in a community-based African American (AA) sample.

Methods: A total of 135 AA participants, from a larger aging study, diagnosed MCI (n = 90) or NC (n = 45) via consensus diagnosis using clinical history, Clinical Dementia Rating score, and comprehensive neuropsychological testing. Logistic regression models utilized sex, education, age, and MoCA score to predict MCI versus NC.

Montreal Cognitive Assessment Performance among Community-Dwelling African Americans.

Objective: To report descriptive and normative data for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in a population-based African American sample.

Method: The MoCA was administered to 1,419 African American participants (mean age 49.89 years, range 18-75, 64% female).

Predictors That a Diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment Will Remain Stable 3 Years Later.

Background And Objective: In half to two thirds of patients who are diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the diagnosis neither converts to dementia nor reverts to normal cognition; however, little is known about predictors of MCI stability. Our study aimed to identify those predictors.

Methods: We obtained 3-year longitudinal data from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set for patients with a baseline diagnosis of MCI.

Predictors of Reversion from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Normal Cognition.

Background/aims: Few studies have examined predictors of reversion from mild cognitive impairment (MCI) to normal cognition. We sought to identify baseline predictors of reversion, using the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set, by comparing MCI individuals who reverted to normal cognition to those who progressed to dementia.

Methods: Participants (n = 1,208) meeting MCI criteria were evaluated at the baseline visit and 3 subsequent annual visits.

Traumatic brain injury history is associated with earlier age of onset of Alzheimer disease.

Objective: This study examined whether a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with earlier onset of Alzheimer disease (AD), independent of apolipoprotein ε4 status (Apoe4) and gender.

Method: Participants with a clinical diagnosis of AD (n = 7625) were obtained from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set, and categorized based on self-reported lifetime TBI with loss of consciousness (LOC) (TBI+ vs. TBI-) and presence of Apoe4.

Developing a Deep Brain Stimulation Neuromodulation Network for Parkinson Disease, Essential Tremor, and Dystonia: Report of a Quality Improvement Project.

Objective: To develop a process to improve patient outcomes from deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery for Parkinson disease (PD), essential tremor (ET), and dystonia.

Methods: We employed standard quality improvement methodology using the Plan-Do-Study-Act process to improve patient selection, surgical DBS lead implantation, postoperative programming, and ongoing assessment of patient outcomes.

Results: The result of this quality improvement process was the development of a neuromodulation network.

Self-Reported Traumatic Brain Injury and Mild Cognitive Impairment: Increased Risk and Earlier Age of Diagnosis.

This study examined whether history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with increased risk and earlier onset of mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Subjects with MCI (n = 3,187) and normal cognition (n = 3,244) were obtained from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center database. TBI was categorized based on lifetime reported TBI with loss of consciousness (LOC) without chronic deficit.

Traumatic brain injury history is associated with earlier age of onset of frontotemporal dementia.

Objective: We retrospectively examined whether a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with an earlier age of symptom onset and diagnosis in a large sample of patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD).

Methods: Data on patients with bvFTD (n=678) were obtained from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center Uniform Data Set. TBI was categorised based on reported lifetime history of TBI with loss of consciousness (LOC) but no chronic deficits occurring more than 1 year prior to diagnosis of bvFTD.

Use of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Alzheimer's Disease-8 as cognitive screening measures in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: To examine the sensitivity and specificity of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), a brief cognitive screening measure previously validated for use in Parkinson's disease (PD), and Alzheimer's Disease-8 (AD8), an eight-item informant report used to screen for dementia, but not yet validated for use in PD, to identify cognitive impairment in a sample of 111 patients with PD.

Methods: Cognitive impairment was determined based on a battery of neuropsychological measures, excluding the MoCA and AD8. Classification rates of both the MoCA and AD8 in identifying cognitive impairment were examined using logistic regression and receiver operator characteristic (ROC) analysis.

Dyadic Short Forms of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV.

Full Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) administration can be time-consuming and may not be necessary when intelligence quotient estimates will suffice. Estimated Full Scale Intelligence Quotient (FSIQ) and General Ability Index (GAI) scores were derived from nine dyadic short forms using individual regression equations based on data from a clinical sample (n = 113) that was then cross validated in a separate clinical sample (n = 50). Derived scores accounted for 70%-83% of the variance in FSIQ and 77%-88% of the variance in GAI.

An Abbreviated Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) for Dementia Screening.

Objective: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a cognitive screening instrument growing in popularity, but few studies have conducted psychometric item analyses or attempted to develop abbreviated forms. We sought to derive and validate a short-form MoCA (SF-MoCA) and compare its classification accuracy to the standard MoCA and Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) in mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer disease (AD), and normal aging.

Methods: 408 subjects (MCI n = 169, AD n = 87, and normal n = 152) were randomly divided into derivation and validation samples.

Subclinical atherosclerosis and subsequent cognitive function.

Objective: To examine the relationship between measures of subclinical atherosclerosis and subsequent cognitive function.

Method: Participants from the Dallas Heart Study (DHS), a population-based multiethnic study of cardiovascular disease pathogenesis, were re-examined 8 years later (DHS-2) with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA); N = 1904, mean age = 42.9, range 8-65.

Normative data for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in a population-based sample.

Objective: To provide normative and descriptive data for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) in a large, ethnically diverse sample.

Methods: The MoCA was administered to 2,653 ethnically diverse subjects as part of a population-based study of cardiovascular disease (mean age 50.30 years, range 18-85; Caucasian 34%, African American 52%, Hispanic 11%, other 2%).

Validation of the new interpretive guidelines for the clinical dementia rating scale sum of boxes score in the national Alzheimer's coordinating center database.

Background: It was recently demonstrated that the Clinical Dementia Rating scale Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB) score can be used to accurately stage severity of Alzheimer dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). However, to our knowledge, the utility of those interpretive guidelines has not been cross-validated or applied to a heterogeneous sample of dementia cases.

Objective: To cross-validate the staging guidelines proposed in a previous study using the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) database.

The CERAD Neuropsychologic Battery Total Score and the progression of Alzheimer disease.

Objective: To establish the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD) neuropsychologic battery as a valid measure of cognitive progression in Alzheimer disease (AD) by deriving annualized CERAD Total Change Scores and corresponding confidence intervals in AD and controls from which to define clinically meaningful change.

Method: Subjects included 383 normal control (NC) and 655 AD subjects with serial data from the CERAD registry database. Annualized CERAD Total Change Scores were derived and Reliable Change Indexes (RCIs) calculated to establish statistically reliable change values.

Can a direct IADL measure detect deficits in persons with MCI?

Objective: To determine if a direct measure of instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) scale designed for use with dementia patients can detect differences between persons with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and normal elderly control subjects (NC).

Methods: This study used cross-sectional and longitudinal IADL scale data from MCI and NC subjects followed at an Alzheimer's Disease Center.

Results: On a 52-point scale, MCI subjects (n = 30) scored significantly lower than NC subjects (n = 30) on the IADL scale (total score 47.

Patterns of verbal memory performance in mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease, and normal aging.

Objective: Individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) typically demonstrate memory loss that falls between normal aging (NA) and Alzheimer disease (AD), but little is known about the pattern of memory dysfunction in MCI.

Method: To explore this issue, California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) performance was examined across groups of MCI, AD, and NA.

Results: MCI subjects displayed a pattern of deficits closely resembling that of AD, characterized by reduced learning, rapid forgetting, increased recency recall, elevated intrusion errors, and poor recognition discriminability with increased false-positives.