Could Altered Evoked Pain Responsiveness Be a Phenotypic Biomarker for Alzheimer's Disease Risk? A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Cognitively Healthy Individuals.

Background: This study evaluated whether the apolipoprotein ɛ4 (APOE4) allele, a genetic marker associated with increased risk of developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), was associated with differences in evoked pain responsiveness in cognitively healthy subjects.

Objective: The aim was to determine whether individuals at increased risk of late-onset AD based on APOE allele genotype differ phenotypically in their response to experimentally-induced painful stimuli compared to those who do not have at least one copy of the ɛ4 allele.

Methods: Forty-nine cognitively healthy subjects aged 30-89 years old with the APOE4 allele (n = 12) and without (n = 37) were assessed for group differences in pain thresholds and affective (unpleasantness) responses to experimentally-induced thermal pain stimuli.

Narrative Review of Sensory Changes as a Biomarker for Alzheimer's Disease.

Early recognition of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the prodromal period has not been robust yet will be necessary if effective disease-modifying drugs are to be useful in preventing or delaying the condition. The objective of this narrative review was to describe the current, evidenced based understanding of alterations in sensory data as potential biomarkers for AD. Review of empirical studies that tested senses as biomarkers for AD and were published in English within the past 50 years was completed.

An integrative review of system-level factors influencing dementia detection in primary care.

Background And Purpose: The incidence of Alzheimer disease (AD) is increasing in the United States, yet more than half of the people with AD are diagnosed late in the course of the disease. Most are identified outside primary care. New approaches to prevention and treatment mean that early detection of AD may improve the quality of life of those affected by the disease.

Sex Differences in Associations of Cognitive Function with Perceptions of Pain in Older Adults.

Background: Sex differences in pain have been shown to exist in older adults with normal cognition and people with Alzheimer's disease. It is unknown if sex differences in pain in older adults exist in a range of communicative older adults with varying cognitive ability from no impairment to moderately severe cognitive impairment.

Objective: This study proposes to compare the association between psychophysical responses to experimental thermal pain between males and females to determine if sex differences in pain exist across the cognitive spectrum.

Development of a subjective cognitive decline questionnaire using item response theory: a pilot study.

Background: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) may indicate unhealthy cognitive changes, but no standardized SCD measurement exists. This pilot study aims to identify reliable SCD questions.

Methods: 112 cognitively normal (NC, 76±8 years, 63% female), 43 mild cognitive impairment (MCI; 77±7 years, 51% female), and 33 diagnostically ambiguous participants (79±9 years, 58% female) were recruited from a research registry and completed 57 self-report SCD questions.

A Mutual Self- and Informant-Report of Cognitive Complaint Correlates with Neuropathological Outcomes in Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Background: This study examines whether different sources of cognitive complaint (i.e., self and informant) predict Alzheimer's disease (AD) neuropathology in elders with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Associations between Verbal Learning Slope and Neuroimaging Markers across the Cognitive Aging Spectrum.

A symptom of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a flat learning profile. Learning slope calculation methods vary, and the optimal method for capturing neuroanatomical changes associated with MCI and early AD pathology is unclear. This study cross-sectionally compared four different learning slope measures from the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (simple slope, regression-based slope, two-slope method, peak slope) to structural neuroimaging markers of early AD neurodegeneration (hippocampal volume, cortical thickness in parahippocampal gyrus, precuneus, and lateral prefrontal cortex) across the cognitive aging spectrum [normal control (NC); (n=198; age=76±5), MCI (n=370; age=75±7), and AD (n=171; age=76±7)] in ADNI.

Inclusion of an informant yields strong associations between cognitive complaint and longitudinal cognitive outcomes in non-demented elders.

Background: The relation between the source of cognitive complaint and objective cognitive performance is not well understood.

Objective: Examine self and informant cognitive complaint as predictors of objective cognitive and functional trajectory in non-demented elders.

Methods: Participants from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center had a baseline diagnosis of normal cognition (NC; n = 6133, 72±8 years, 68% female) or mild cognitive impairment (MCI; n = 3010, 74±8 years, 55% female).

An intervention to enhance Alzheimer's disease clinical research participation among older African Americans.

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) rates are higher among African Americans than in other racial or ethnic groups. However, Black elders participate in research at lower rates than Whites.

Objective: The present study aimed to: (1) implement an informational protocol for African Americans elders and their loved ones about the benefits of clinical research and brain donation program participation in AD, and (2) quantitatively assess changes in knowledge, attitudes, and trust.