Predictors of Nursing Home Placement in a Cohort of European People with Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementia Cases Enrolled in SCU-B or Non SCU-B Centers: The RECage Study.

Background: Nursing home placement (NHP) can be the final step of patients with Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: We aimed to identify NHP predictors among 508 people with dementia with a 3-year follow-up.

Methods: We analyzed data from the international observational RECage study, involving 508 people with especially Alzheimer's disease and comparing a cohort enrolled by five centers with a Special Care Unit for BPSD (behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia) and another one enrolled by six centers lacking this facility.

European intersocietal recommendations for the biomarker-based diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders.

The recent commercialisation of the first disease-modifying drugs for Alzheimer's disease emphasises the need for consensus recommendations on the rational use of biomarkers to diagnose people with suspected neurocognitive disorders in memory clinics. Most available recommendations and guidelines are either disease-centred or biomarker-centred. A European multidisciplinary taskforce consisting of 22 experts from 11 European scientific societies set out to define the first patient-centred diagnostic workflow that aims to prioritise testing for available biomarkers in individuals attending memory clinics.

Correction: Ethical challenges of using remote monitoring technologies for clinical research: A case study of the role of local research ethics committees in the RADAR-AD study.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Respectful Caring for the Agitated Elderly (ReCAGE): A Multicentre, Prospective, Observational Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Special Care Units for People with Dementia.

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) bring complexity in the clinical management of people with dementia; therefore, it is important to evaluate different models of care, such as Special Care Units (SCU-B).∥Objective:To evaluate the SCU-B effectiveness toward alleviating BPSD and improving the quality of life (QoL) of patients and their caregivers.∥Methods:ReCAGE was a multicenter, controlled, longitudinal study where 508 patients with BPSD were enrolled in two cohorts: 262 patients from centers endowed with a SCU-B, and 246 from centers without SCU-B.

Ethical challenges of using remote monitoring technologies for clinical research: A case study of the role of local research ethics committees in the RADAR-AD study.

Introduction: Clinical research with remote monitoring technologies (RMTs) has multiple advantages over standard paper-pencil tests, but also raises several ethical concerns. While several studies have addressed the issue of governance of big data in clinical research from the legal or ethical perspectives, the viewpoint of local research ethics committee (REC) members is underrepresented in the current literature. The aim of this study is therefore to find which specific ethical challenges are raised by RECs in the context of a large European study on remote monitoring in all syndromic stages of Alzheimer's disease, and what gaps remain.

Anti-amyloid antibody therapies in Alzheimer's disease.

After years of failed attempts to develop a disease-modifying therapy for Alzheimer's disease, consistent evidence in support of clinical efficacy was finally presented for a monoclonal antibody targeting the amyloid-β protofibrils. In addition to meeting the primary outcome of slowing clinical disease progression over 18 months, secondary clinical outcomes and amyloid-β lowering on PET also underpin the positive results of the trial. In this opinion piece, we highlight the key characteristics of the previous unsuccessful trials and analyse the potential reasons why those attempts to develop a treatment for early Alzheimer's disease failed.

New insights into the genetic etiology of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Characterization of the genetic landscape of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related dementias (ADD) provides a unique opportunity for a better understanding of the associated pathophysiological processes. We performed a two-stage genome-wide association study totaling 111,326 clinically diagnosed/'proxy' AD cases and 677,663 controls. We found 75 risk loci, of which 42 were new at the time of analysis.

Cerebrospinal fluid tau levels are associated with abnormal neuronal plasticity markers in Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Increased total tau (t-tau) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a key characteristic of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and is considered to result from neurodegeneration. T-tau levels, however, can be increased in very early disease stages, when neurodegeneration is limited, and can be normal in advanced disease stages. This suggests that t-tau levels may be driven by other mechanisms as well.

Quality of Life and Caregiver Burden of Alzheimer's Disease Among Community Dwelling Patients in Europe: Variation by Disease Severity and Progression.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a significant burden on patients and caregivers. How this burden increases as disease progresses has not been well researched.

Objective: To assess the association of caregiver burden and quality of life with Alzheimer's disease severity and disease progression in community-dwelling patients in Germany, Spain, and the UK.

CSF Proteomic Alzheimer's Disease-Predictive Subtypes in Cognitively Intact Amyloid Negative Individuals.

We recently discovered three distinct pathophysiological subtypes in Alzheimer's disease (AD) using cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteomics: one with neuronal hyperplasticity, a second with innate immune system activation, and a third subtype with blood-brain barrier dysfunction. It remains unclear whether AD proteomic subtype profiles are a consequence of amyloid aggregation, or might exist upstream from aggregated amyloid. We studied this question in 127 older individuals with intact cognition and normal AD biomarkers in two independent cohorts (EMIF-AD MBD and ADNI).

Common variants in Alzheimer's disease and risk stratification by polygenic risk scores.

Genetic discoveries of Alzheimer's disease are the drivers of our understanding, and together with polygenetic risk stratification can contribute towards planning of feasible and efficient preventive and curative clinical trials. We first perform a large genetic association study by merging all available case-control datasets and by-proxy study results (discovery n = 409,435 and validation size n = 58,190). Here, we add six variants associated with Alzheimer's disease risk (near APP, CHRNE, PRKD3/NDUFAF7, PLCG2 and two exonic variants in the SHARPIN gene).

Harmonizing neuropsychological assessment for mild neurocognitive disorders in Europe.

Introduction: Harmonized neuropsychological assessment for neurocognitive disorders, an international priority for valid and reliable diagnostic procedures, has been achieved only in specific countries or research contexts.

Methods: To harmonize the assessment of mild cognitive impairment in Europe, a workshop (Geneva, May 2018) convened stakeholders, methodologists, academic, and non-academic clinicians and experts from European, US, and Australian harmonization initiatives.

Results: With formal presentations and thematic working-groups we defined a standard battery consistent with the U.

Rapid Support for Older Adults during the Initial Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results from a Geriatric Psychiatry Helpline.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and governmental lockdown measures disproportionally impact older adults. This study presents the results from a psychiatric helpline for older adults in Mannheim, Germany, during the lockdown, set up to provide information and psychosocial support. We aim to elucidate the needs of older adults, their reported changes, and the psychological impact during the initial stages of the health crisis.

Assessing the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease in Real-World Settings in Three European Countries.

Background: There exists considerable variation in disease progression rates among patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Objective: The primary objective of this observational study is to assess the progression of AD by characterizing cognitive, functional, and behavioral changes during the follow-up period between 6 and 24 months.

Methods: A longitudinal prospective study with community-dwelling patients with an established clinical diagnosis of AD of mild to moderate severity was conducted in Germany, Spain and the UK.

Beta-synuclein in cerebrospinal fluid as an early diagnostic marker of Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: Synaptic loss plays a major role in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However so far no neurochemical marker for synaptic loss has been introduced into clinical routine. By mass spectrometry beta-synuclein was established as a candidate marker.

Cerebrospinal fluid total tau levels indicate aberrant neuronal plasticity in Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterised by abnormal amyloid beta and tau processing. Previous studies reported that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) total tau (t-tau) levels vary between patients. Here we show that CSF t-tau variability is associated with distinct impairments in neuronal plasticity mediated by gene repression factors SUZ12 and REST.

Targeted Mass Spectrometry Suggests Beta-Synuclein as Synaptic Blood Marker in Alzheimer's Disease.

Synaptic degeneration is a major hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the best pathological correlate of cognitive dysfunction. Synaptic markers are therefore a highly desired read-out for patient diagnosis and possible follow-up in clinical trials. Several synaptic markers for AD are described in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), but studies in blood have failed so far.

Cognitive behavioural therapy for the treatment of late life depression: study protocol of a multicentre, randomized, observer-blinded, controlled trial (CBTlate).

Background: Late-life depression (LLD) is one of the most prevalent mental disorders in old age. It is associated with various adverse outcomes and frequent use of health care services thereby remaining a serious public health concern. Compared with depression in early adulthood, most treatment options of LLD are less effective.