Self-management of chronic conditions can help individuals take control of their health, both improving well-being and reducing the burden on health and social care resources. This study explored the potential of our co-produced self-management tool, My Life Today (MLT), to help people with dementia identify, plan and monitor aspects of their lives that are important to them and that help to maintain or improve well-being. We asked people with dementia to try using MLT.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe measurement of autism characteristics can be challenging due to variability of social impairments and restricted and repetitive behaviors or interests (RRBs). Psychometrically strong measures such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition (ADOS-2) can improve our capacity for thorough autism assessment. The conceptualization of the ADOS-2 has been shaped by research exploring the structure of its items, which evaluate autism traits associated with social affect and RRBs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Both structural and functional brain changes have been individually associated with developing cognitive processes such as reading. However, there is limited research about the combined influence of resting-state functional and structural magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI and sMRI) features in reading development, which could provide insights into the interplay between brain structure and function in shaping cognitive growth. We propose a method called inter-modality source coupling (IMSC) to study the coupling between the rs-fMRI and sMRI and its relationship to reading ability in school-age children.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDespite the high prevalence of developmental dyslexia in the U.S. population, research remains limited and possibly biased due to the overrepresentation of males in most dyslexic samples.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
August 2024
Objectives: Understanding what influences changes over time in caregiver well-being is important for the development of effective support. This study explores differences in trajectories of caregiver stress and positive aspects of caregiving (PAC).
Methods: Caregivers of community-dwelling individuals with mild-to-moderate dementia at baseline from the IDEAL cohort were interviewed at baseline (n = 1,203), 12 months (n = 917), and 24 months (n = 699).
Introduction: The INflammation and Small Vessel Disease (INSVD) study aims to investigate whether peripheral inflammation, immune (dys)regulation and blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability relate to disease progression in cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). This research aims to pinpoint specific components of the immune response in SVD relating to disease progression. This could identify biomarkers of SVD progression, as well as potential therapeutic targets to inform the development and repurposing of drugs to reduce or prevent SVD, cognitive decline and vascular dementia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study utilized a neuroimaging task to assess working memory (WM) network recruitment during single word reading. Associations between WM and reading comprehension skills are well documented. Several converging models suggest WM may also contribute to foundational reading skills, but few studies have assessed this contribution directly.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Family relationships influence how people appraise their own aging and how their appraisals impact their health. We analyzed felt age (FA) among family caregivers of people with dementia.
Methods And Measures: We used a stratified sample of 1,020 spousal and 202 adult-child caregivers from the IDEAL study.
Background And Objectives: Apathy is one of the most common symptoms following stroke and is often associated with worse functional outcome and poor quality of life (QoL). The trajectory of apathy symptoms has been previously described, and different trajectories have been identified. We determined group and individual changes in apathy symptomatology from the acute phase until 1 year after stroke.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Most people with dementia have multiple health conditions. This study explores (1) number and type of health condition(s) in people with dementia overall and in relation to age, sex, dementia type, and cognition; (2) change in number of health conditions over two years; and (3) whether over time the number of health conditions at baseline is related to social isolation, loneliness, quality of life, and/or well-being.
Methods: Longitudinal data from the IDEAL (Improving the experience of Dementia and Enhancing Active Life) cohort were used.
Theta-burst stimulation (TBS) is a repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation technique that can be used to upregulate or downregulate different brain regions. However, the timing of its effects and the differing effects of continuous TBS (cTBS) versus intermittent TBS (iTBS) in the reading system have not been explored. This study assessed how stimulation type and post-stimulation timing affected change in performance during a phonological discrimination and sight word recognition task after stimulation of supramarginal gyrus (SMG).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Impaired cognition and instrumental activities of daily living (iADL) are key diagnostic features of dementia; however, few studies have compared trajectories of cognition and iADL.
Methods: Participants from the IDEAL study comprised 1537, 1183, and 851 people with dementia, and 1277, 977, and 749 caregivers at baseline, 12 and 24 months, respectively. Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination-III and Functional Activities Questionnaire were used to measure cognition and iADL, respectively.
The aim of the study was to investigate responses to dementia-relevant words in healthy older people and to investigate changes in response over 20-months in people with early-stage dementia. An emotional Stroop task, using colour-naming dementia-relevant words, was used as an indicator of implicit awareness of dementia. Overall, 24 people with dementia and 24 healthy older people completed an emotional Stroop task (T1).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Developmental dyslexia (DD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are highly comorbid neurodevelopmental disorders. Individuals with DD or ADHD have both been shown to have deficits in white matter tracts associated with reading and attentional control networks. However, white matter diffusivity in individuals comorbid with both DD and ADHD (DD + ADHD) has not been specifically explored.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Evidence suggests that damage to the frontal lobes can be associated with changes in cognitive and behavioral functioning and reduced awareness that such changes have occurred. In the current study, the Cognitive Awareness Model was used as a theoretical framework to explore knowledge of the self in people with acquired frontal lesions.
Methods: Fifteen individuals with focal frontal lobe lesions (FFL) and their nominated informants were compared with fifteen healthy matched control-informant dyads on questionnaire measures designed to assess awareness of difficulties.
The extent to which people with dementia are involved in everyday decision-making is unclear. We explored informant-rated involvement of people with dementia in everyday decision-making over 2 years and whether functional, behavioral, and psychological factors related to the person with dementia and the caregiver explain variability in involvement of people with dementia in everyday decision-making. We used IDEAL data for 1182 people with dementia and their caregivers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Impaired awareness of ability is common in dementia and has important clinical implications. Evidence from different clinical groups has shown that awareness can vary according to whether evaluation refers to self or other performance.
Objective: The present study aimed to investigate awareness for self- and other-performance in Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients, exploring if results vary according to cognitive domain of the tasks.
Background And Objectives: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) networks integrate damage from a variety of pathologic processes in cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) and may be a sensitive marker to detect treatment effects. We determined whether brain network analysis could detect treatment effects in the PRESERVE trial data set, in which intensive vs standard blood pressure (BP) lowering was compared. The primary end point of DTI had not shown treatment differences.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: DTI is sensitive to white matter (WM) microstructural damage and has been suggested as a surrogate marker for phase 2 clinical trials in cerebral small vessel disease (SVD). The study's objective is to establish the best way to analyse the diffusion-weighted imaging data in SVD for this purpose. The ideal method would be sensitive to change and predict dementia conversion, but also straightforward to implement and ideally automated.
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