Biomarkers.

Background: Postoperative delirium (POD) is characterized by fluctuating attention after surgery and is associated with increased risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease (AD). While the neurophysiological changes that underlie POD and increased risk of AD are unclear, recent data has raised the possibility that an exaggerated brain response to anesthetics may be a biomarker for POD risk and preclinical AD-like pathology. Thus, we examined whether anesthetic-dose-adjusted intraoperative brain activity is associated with POD or preoperative brain vulnerabilities (preclinical AD-like pathology, preoperative inattention) that may contribute to risk of POD (and later AD).

Developing Topics.

Background: APOE4 leads to increased neuroinflammation, neurocognitive decline, increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, and may be associated with increased delirium risk. However, the safety and feasibility of pharmacologic modulation of APOE to prevent neuroinflammation and postoperative delirium is unclear.

Methods: We performed a Phase II, triple blind, escalating dose, randomized controlled trial to determine the safety, feasibility, and efficacy of the APOE mimetic peptide CN-105 for preventing postoperative neuroinflammation and delirium.

White matter and latency of visual evoked potentials during maturation: A miniature pig model of adolescent development.

Background: Continuous myelination of cerebral white matter (WM) during adolescence overlaps with the formation of higher cognitive skills and the onset of many neuropsychiatric disorders. We developed a miniature-pig model of adolescent brain development for neuroimaging and neurophysiological assessment during this critical period. Minipigs have gyroencephalic brains with a large cerebral WM compartment and a well-defined adolescence period.