The risk of developing dementia in the COVID-19 pandemic; a cohort study.

Objectives: The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on cognitive decline are not fully understood. Higher social activity and relationships have been associated with decreased risk of dementia. We hypothesised that risk of transition to dementia would increase after the start of the first national lockdown.

Does depression in mid-life predispose to greater cognitive decline in later life in the Whitehall II cohort?

Background: Later-life depression appears to have different symptomatology and possibly underlying pathology to younger adults. Depression is linked to dementia but whether it is a risk factor or an early sign of dementia remains unclear. Neuroinflammation is increasingly recognised in both conditions.

Persistent depressive symptoms are associated with frontal regional atrophy in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Depression in individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) is common, difficult to treat and inadequately understood. Previous studies have identified possible differences in regional brain atrophy in individuals with AD and depression, but the results have been inconsistent and some studies had less robust definitions of depression. We aimed to examine regional brain atrophy in two large dementia focused cohorts.

What neuroscience has already done for us.

Each of the components of the biopsychosocial model of mental illness is important for understanding mental illness. Biological and genetic abnormalities have been demonstrated in major mental illnesses. These are leading to changes in our understanding of these conditions, as well as our understanding of the link between life events and mental illness.

Visual hallucinations in Alzheimer's disease do not seem to be associated with chronic hypoperfusion of to visual processing areas V2 and V3 but may be associated with reduced cholinergic input to these areas.

Background: Up to 20% of patients with AD experience hallucinations. The pathological substrate is not known. Visual hallucinations (VH) are more common in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB).