Publications by authors named "Roy Kessels"

Introduction: Reduced white matter integrity outside the stroke lesion may be a potential contributor of post-stroke cognitive impairment. We aimed to investigate how a stroke lesion affects the integrity of surrounding white matter, and whether the integrity of the non-lesioned part of white matter tracts is associated with cognitive performance after ischemic stroke in young adults.

Methods: Patients from the ODYSSEY study, aged 18-49 years, with a first-ever ischemic stroke, underwent 3T MRI and cognitive assessment within six months after the index event.

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  • * This review examines the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions for apathy across different conditions similar to KS, including dementia, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and traumatic brain injury, drawing on 22 systematic reviews and 32 empirical studies.
  • * Successful interventions for severely cognitively impaired individuals rely on external stimulation rather than intrinsic motivation, highlighting the need to tailor treatments to the individual's interests and assess the specific apathetic behaviors before starting any intervention.
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  • The study examined the impact of cerebellar anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on cognitive performance among patients suffering from cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome (CCAS), where no established treatment currently exists.
  • It involved 35 participants in a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled trial with assessments of cognitive function, ataxia severity, mood, and quality of life over several months.
  • The results showed no significant improvement in cognitive performance from tDCS, but did indicate a noteworthy reduction in ataxia severity, suggesting tDCS may have potential benefits for motor-related symptoms in cerebellar disorders.
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  • Cognitive impairment is prevalent in young cerebellar stroke patients, with about 60% experiencing deficits, especially in visuo-spatial skills and executive functioning.
  • The study found mixed outcomes over time, with some patients showing improvement while others experienced cognitive decline, regardless of recurrence of strokes.
  • Subjective cognitive complaints were high and correlated with levels of fatigue, indicating a significant impact on the patients' overall cognitive health and quality of life.
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Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by an initial decline in declarative memory, while nondeclarative memory processing remains relatively intact. Error-based motor adaptation is traditionally seen as a form of nondeclarative memory, but recent findings suggest that it involves both fast, declarative, and slow, nondeclarative adaptive processes. If the declarative memory system shares resources with the fast process in motor adaptation, it can be hypothesized that the fast, but not the slow, process is disturbed in AD patients.

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Objective: This study investigated the visuospatial working memory profiles of behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) using a novel computerised test of visuospatial working memory: the Box Task.

Methods: Twenty-eight bvFTD and 28 AD patients, as well as 32 age-matched control participants were recruited. All participants completed the Box Task and conventional neuropsychological tests of working memory, episodic memory, and visuospatial function.

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Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) is known to contribute to cognitive impairment, apathy and gait dysfunction. Although associations between cognitive impairment and either apathy or gait dysfunction have been shown in SVD, the inter-relations among these three clinical features and their potential common neural basis remain unexplored. The dopaminergic meso-cortical and meso-limbic pathways have been known as the important brain circuits for both cognitive control, emotion regulation and motor function.

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Background: Patients with sporadic cerebral amyloid angiopathy (sCAA) frequently report cognitive or neuropsychiatric symptoms. The aim of this study is to investigate whether in patients with sCAA, cognitive impairment and neuropsychiatric symptoms are associated with a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker profile associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we included participants with sCAA and dementia- and stroke-free, age- and sex-matched controls, who underwent a lumbar puncture, brain MRI, cognitive assessments, and self-administered and informant-based-questionnaires on neuropsychiatric symptoms.

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Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) frequently gives rise to depressive and anxiety symptoms, but these are often undertreated. This study investigated the effect of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) on psychological outcomes and quality of life (QoL), and whether they mediate treatment effects on MS-related cognitive problems.

Methods: This randomized controlled trial included MS patients with cognitive complaints (n = 99) and compared MBCT (n = 32) and CRT (n = 32) to enhanced treatment as usual (n = 35).

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Background And Objectives: Previous studies have linked the MRI measures of perivascular spaces (PVSs), diffusivity along the perivascular spaces (DTI-ALPS), and free water (FW) to cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) and SVD-related cognitive impairments. However, studies on the longitudinal associations between the three MRI measures, SVD progression, and cognitive decline are lacking. This study aimed to explore how PVS, DTI-ALPS, and FW contribute to SVD progression and cognitive decline.

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Background: Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) may affect cognition, but their burden in cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), one of the main causes of intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) and dementia in the elderly, remains unclear. We investigated NPS, with emphasis on apathy and irritability in sporadic (sCAA) and Dutch-type hereditary (D-)CAA.

Methods: We included patients with sCAA and (pre)symptomatic D-CAA, and controls from four prospective cohort studies.

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Background And Objective: Enzalutamide is a potent androgen receptor signalling inhibitor, effectively used for the treatment of different stages of prostate cancer. Side effects occur frequently at the registered dose, whilst a lower dose might be equally effective. Therefore, the aim of this study is to determine the effect of a reduced dose of enzalutamide on side effects in frail patients with prostate cancer.

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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.

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Background And Objectives: Patients with cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) show a heterogenous clinical course. The aim of the current study was to investigate the longitudinal course of cognitive and motor function in patients who developed parkinsonism, dementia, both, or none.

Methods: Participants were from the Radboud University Nijmegen Diffusion Tensor and Magnetic Resonance Cohort study, a prospective cohort of patients with SVD.

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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.

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Importance: Weight loss induced by bariatric surgery (BS) is associated with improved cognition and changed brain structure; however, previous studies on the association have used small cohorts and short follow-up periods, making it difficult to determine long-term neurological outcomes associated with BS.

Objective: To investigate long-term associations of weight loss after BS with cognition and brain structure and perfusion.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cohort study included participants from the Bariatric Surgery Rijnstate and Radboudumc Neuroimaging and Cognition in Obesity study.

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Background: Cognitive treatment response varies highly in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Identification of mechanisms is essential for predicting response.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate whether brain network function predicts response to cognitive rehabilitation therapy (CRT) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT).

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Background: Limited data exists on cognitive recovery in young stroke patients. We aimed to investigate the longitudinal course of cognitive performance during the first year after stroke at young age and identify predictors for cognitive recovery.

Methods: We conducted a multicentre prospective cohort study between 2013 and 2021, enrolling patients aged 18-49 years with first-ever ischaemic stroke.

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Approximately 1 in 10 young stroke patients (18-50 years) will develop post-stroke epilepsy, which is associated with cognitive impairment. While previous studies have shown altered brain connectivity in patients with epilepsy, little is however known about the changes in functional brain connectivity in young stroke patients with post-stroke epilepsy and their relationship with cognitive impairment. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether young ischaemic stroke patients have altered functional networks and whether this alteration is related to cognitive impairment.

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(1) Background: chronic alcohol use is consistently associated with impaired executive functioning, but its profile across the spectrum from mild to major alcohol-related cognitive impairment is, to date, unclear. This study aims to compare executive performances of patients with alcohol-induced neurocognitive disorder, including Korsakoff's syndrome (KS), by using a computerized assessment battery allowing a fine-grained and precise neuropsychological assessment; (2) Methods: performances of 22 patients with alcohol-related cognitive impairment (ARCI) and 20 patients with KS were compared to those of 22 matched non-alcoholic controls. All participants were diagnosed in accordance with DSM-5-TR criteria and were at least six weeks abstinent from alcohol prior to assessment.

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Cognitive and affective sequelae of cerebellar disease are receiving increased attention, but their actual rate of occurrence remains unclear. Complaints may have a significant impact on patients, affecting social behavior and psychological well-being. This study aims to explore the extent of subjective cognitive and affective symptoms in patients with degenerative ataxias in the Netherlands.

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Dopaminergic dysfunction in the basal ganglia, particularly in the posterior putamen, is often viewed as the primary pathological mechanism behind motor slowing (i.e. bradykinesia) in Parkinson's disease.

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Introduction: Many individuals with acquired brain injury tend to experience problems with slowed information processing speed (IPS). A potentially beneficial and cost-effective supplement for cognitive rehabilitation of impaired IPS may be the implementation of serious gaming that focuses on compensatory learning as part of cognitive training. However, most digital platforms used during cognitive rehabilitation focus on restoring cognitive function and evidence for skill transfer from digital practice to everyday life is lacking.

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