Publications by authors named "Nicole Spector"

Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the use of Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) as a tracer for white matter (WM) pathology in both healthy and cognitively impaired individuals, focusing on its retention in normal-appearing WM (NAWM) and WM lesions (WML).
  • Using FLAIR imaging, researchers segmented WML and NAWM in 73 elderly subjects and analyzed PiB PET images, finding that PiB retention was significantly lower in WML compared to NAWM (14.6% reduction overall).
  • The results suggest that WML presence affects PiB binding signals in WM, indicating its potential for assessing WM pathology and warranting further investigation into the mechanisms behind PiB binding in WM.
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Objective: There is increasing evidence to suggest that diet, one of the most important modifiable environmental factors, may play a role in preventing or delaying cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study examines the relationship between dietary nutrients and brain biomarkers of AD in cognitively normal individuals (NL) with and without AD risk factors.

Design: As part of an ongoing brain imaging study, participants received clinical and laboratory examinations, a neurocognitive test battery, positron emission tomography (PET) with (11)C-Pittsburgh Compound-B (PiB; a measure of amyloid-β (Aβ) load) and (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG; a proxy of neuronal activity), and completed semiquantitative food frequency questionnaires.

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Objectives: This brain imaging study examines whether cognitively normal (NL) individuals with 2 parents affected by late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) show evidence of more extensive Alzheimer disease pathology compared with those who have a single parent affected by LOAD.

Methods: Fifty-two NL individuals received MRI, (11)C-Pittsburgh compound B (PiB)-PET, and (18)F-fluoro-2-deoxyglucose (FDG)-PET. These included 4 demographically balanced groups (n = 13/group, aged 32-72 years, 60% female, 30% APOE ε4 carriers) of NL individuals with maternal (FHm), paternal (FHp), and maternal and paternal (FHmp) family history of LOAD, and with negative family history (FH-).

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Previous studies have suggested a link between sleep disordered breathing (SDB) and dementia risk. In the present study, we analyzed the relationship between SDB severity, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Alzheimer's disease-biomarkers, and the ApoE alleles. A total of 95 cognitively normal elderly participants were analyzed for SDB severity, CSF measures of phosphorylated-tau (p-tau), total-tau (t-tau), and amyloid beta 42 (Aβ-42), as well as ApoE allele status.

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Background And Objectives: The advantages of the continuous wave (c.w.) CO(2) laser are offset by the delay in laser wound healing secondary to thermal damage.

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Background And Objectives: We developed novel heat-conducting templates, and tested whether they could effectively remove damaging heat from the tissue during laser ablation. The reduction of lateral thermal damage during cutaneous incisional laser procedures should decrease the time in wound healing. In addition, we selected various infrared wavelengths to determine whether the template effects would be influenced by the laser penetration depth and the particular chromophore absorbing the laser light.

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