Biomarkers.

Background: There is an urgent need to move the use of plasma biomarkers from research setting to clinical practice for the early detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The aims of the study were to explore the combined use of plasma p-tau181 and NfL in Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients, evaluating diagnostic accuracy and concordance to propose a flow chart for the clinical applicability.

Method: We included 43 SCD, 41 MCI and 21 AD-dementia (AD-d) patients, who underwent plasma p-tau181 and NfL analysis with SiMoA assay.

Dementia Care Research and Psychosocial Factors.

Background: Dysphagia is an important feature of neurodegenerative diseases and potentially life-threatening in primary progressive aphasia (PPA), but remains poorly characterised in these syndromes. We hypothesised that dysphagia would be more prevalent in nonfluent/agrammatic variant (nfv)PPA than other PPA syndromes, predicted by accompanying motor features and associated with atrophy affecting regions implicated in swallowing control.

Methods: In a retrospective case-control study at our tertiary referral centre, we recruited 56 patients with PPA (21 nfvPPA, 22 semantic variant (sv)PPA, 13 logopenic variant (lv)PPA).

Perspectives on climate action and the changing burden of infectious diseases among young Italian doctors and students: a national survey.

Background: The eco-climatic crisis has been defined by the World Health Organization as the "single biggest health threat facing humanity," influencing both the emergence of zoonoses and the spread of vector-borne and water-borne diseases. The aim of this survey was to explore knowledge, eco-anxiety and attitudes toward the ecological and climate crisis among young Italian doctors and medical students.

Methods: A cross-sectional, multicenter survey was conducted from November 2022 to June 2023, by administering an anonymous questionnaire to Italian doctors and students of medicine.

Dysphagia in primary progressive aphasia: Clinical predictors and neuroanatomical basis.

Background And Purpose: Dysphagia is an important feature of neurodegenerative diseases and potentially life-threatening in primary progressive aphasia (PPA) but remains poorly characterized in these syndromes. We hypothesized that dysphagia would be more prevalent in nonfluent/agrammatic variant (nfv)PPA than other PPA syndromes, predicted by accompanying motor features, and associated with atrophy affecting regions implicated in swallowing control.

Methods: In a retrospective case-control study at our tertiary referral centre, we recruited 56 patients with PPA (21 nfvPPA, 22 semantic variant [sv]PPA, 13 logopenic variant [lv]PPA).

Mutational Landscape of Alzheimer's Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia: Regional Variances in Northern, Central, and Southern Italy.

Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) are the two major neurodegenerative diseases with distinct clinical and neuropathological profiles. The aim of this report is to conduct a population-based investigation in well-characterized , , , , , and mutation carriers/pedigrees from the north, the center, and the south of Italy. We retrospectively analyzed the data of 467 Italian individuals.

Future perspective and clinical applicability of the combined use of plasma phosphorylated tau 181 and neurofilament light chain in Subjective Cognitive Decline and Mild Cognitive Impairment.

We aimed to assess diagnostic accuracy of plasma p-tau181 and NfL separately and in combination in discriminating Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) patients carrying Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathology from non-carriers; to propose a flowchart for the interpretation of the results of plasma p-tau181 and NfL. We included 43 SCD, 41 MCI and 21 AD-demented (AD-d) patients, who underwent plasma p-tau181 and NfL analysis. Twenty-eight SCD, 41 MCI and 21 AD-d patients underwent CSF biomarkers analysis (Aβ1-42, Aβ1-42/1-40, p-tau, t-tau) and were classified as carriers of AD pathology (AP+) it they were A+/T+ , or non-carriers (AP-) when they were A-, A+/T-/N-, or A+/T-/N+ according to the A/T(N) system.

Plasma GFAP, NfL and pTau 181 detect preclinical stages of dementia.

Background: Plasma biomarkers are preferable to invasive and expensive diagnostic tools, such as neuroimaging and lumbar puncture that are gold standard in the clinical management of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Here, we investigated plasma Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP), Neurofilament Light Chain (NfL) and Phosphorylated-tau-181 (pTau 181) in AD and in its early stages: Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and Mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Material And Methods: This study included 152 patients (42 SCD, 74 MCI and 36 AD).

Data-driven subtypes of mixed semantic-logopenic primary progressive aphasia: Linguistic features, biomarker profiles and brain metabolic patterns.

Mixed primary progressive aphasia (mPPA) accounts for a substantial proportion of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) cases. However, the lack of a standardised definition of this condition has resulted in misclassification of PPA cases. In this study, we enrolled 55 patients diagnosed with PPA, comprising 12 semantic variant (svPPA), 23 logopenic variant (lvPPA), and 20 mPPA cases with linguistic characteristics consistent with both svPPA and lvPPA (s/lvPPA).

Heterogeneity and overlap in the continuum of linguistic profile of logopenic and semantic variants of primary progressive aphasia: a Profile Analysis based on Multidimensional Scaling study.

Background: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) diagnostic criteria underestimate the complex presentation of semantic (sv) and logopenic (lv) variants, in which symptoms partially overlap, and mixed clinical presentation (mixed-PPA) and heterogenous profile (lvPPA +) are frequent. Conceptualization of similarities and differences of these clinical conditions is still scarce.

Methods: Lexical, semantic, phonological, and working memory errors from nine language tasks of sixty-seven PPA were analyzed using Profile Analysis based on Multidimensional Scaling, which allowed us to create a distributed representation of patients' linguistic performance in a shared space.

Personalized modeling of Alzheimer's disease progression estimates neurodegeneration severity from EEG recordings.

Introduction: Early identification of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is necessary for a timely onset of therapeutic care. However, cortical structural alterations associated with AD are difficult to discern.

Methods: We developed a cortical model of AD-related neurodegeneration accounting for slowing of local dynamics and global connectivity degradation.

Primary progressive aphasia: six questions in search of an answer.

Here, we review recent progress in the diagnosis and management of primary progressive aphasia-the language-led dementias. We pose six key unanswered questions that challenge current assumptions and highlight the unresolved difficulties that surround these diseases. How many syndromes of primary progressive aphasia are there-and is syndromic diagnosis even useful? Are these truly 'language-led' dementias? How can we diagnose (and track) primary progressive aphasia better? Can brain pathology be predicted in these diseases? What is their core pathophysiology? In addition, how can primary progressive aphasia best be treated? We propose that pathophysiological mechanisms linking proteinopathies to phenotypes may help resolve the clinical complexity of primary progressive aphasia, and may suggest novel diagnostic tools and markers and guide the deployment of effective therapies.

Depressive Symptoms Moderate the Association Between Functional Level at Admission to Intensive Post-Stroke Rehabilitation and Effectiveness of the Intervention.

Introduction: Previous studies showed that depression acts as an independent factor in functional recovery after stroke. In a prospective cohort of patients admitted to intensive inpatient rehabilitation after a stroke, we aimed to test depression as a moderator of the relationship between the functional level at admission and the effectiveness of rehabilitation at discharge.

Methods: All patients admitted to within 30 days from an ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke to 4 intensive rehabilitation units were prospectively screened for eligibility to a multicenter prospective observational study.

Plasma neurofilament light chain predicts Alzheimer's disease in patients with subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment: A cross-sectional and longitudinal study.

Background And Purpose: We aimed to evaluate the accuracy of plasma neurofilament light chain (NfL) in predicting Alzheimer's disease (AD) and the progression of cognitive decline in patients with subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Methods: This longitudinal cohort study involved 140 patients (45 with SCD, 73 with MCI, and 22 with AD dementia [AD-D]) who underwent plasma NfL and AD biomarker assessments (cerebrospinal fluid, amyloid positron emission tomography [PET], and F-fluorodeoxyglucose-PET) at baseline. The patients were rated according to the amyloid/tau/neurodegeneration (A/T/N) system and followed up for a mean time of 2.

The role of plasma neurofilament light chain and glial fibrillary acidic protein in subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment.

Introduction And Aim: NfL and GFAP are promising blood-based biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease. However, few studies have explored plasma GFAP in the prodromal and preclinical stages of AD. In our cross-sectional study, our aim is to investigate the role of these biomarkers in the earliest stages of AD.

Plasma p-tau181 as a promising non-invasive biomarker of Alzheimer's Disease pathology in Subjective Cognitive Decline and Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Introduction: The aim of this study is to investigate the role of plasma phosphorylated tau (p-tau) 181 as a potential biomarker for Alzheimer's Disease (AD) pathology in the early stages of the disease, as a valuable marker for tauopathy.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-three Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD), 32 Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and 14 AD demented (AD-d) patients underwent plasma p-tau181 analysis with SiMoA assay. Twenty-six SCD, 32 MCI and 14 AD-d patients also underwent CSF biomarkers analysis (Aβ1-42, Aβ1-42/1-40, p-tau, t-tau) and were classified as carriers of AD pathology (AP+) when A+ was associated with T+ (regardless of N), or non-carriers (AP-) when they were A- (regardless of T and N), or A+/T-/N-, or A+/T-/N+ according to the A/T(N) system.

PRedicting the EVolution of SubjectIvE Cognitive Decline to Alzheimer's Disease With machine learning: the PREVIEW study protocol.

Background: As disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for Alzheimer's disease (AD) are becoming a reality, there is an urgent need to select cost-effective tools that can accurately identify patients in the earliest stages of the disease. Subjective Cognitive Decline (SCD) is a condition in which individuals complain of cognitive decline with normal performances on neuropsychological evaluation. Many studies demonstrated a higher prevalence of Alzheimer's pathology in patients diagnosed with SCD as compared to the general population.

Comparing two picture naming tasks in primary progressive aphasia: Insights from behavioural and neural results.

Picture naming tests are widely used to evaluate language impairments in neurodegenerative diseases, especially in Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA). The available tests differ for many factors affecting the performance, e.g.

Degradation of EEG microstates patterns in subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment: Early biomarkers along the Alzheimer's Disease continuum?

Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathological changes may begin up to decades earlier than the appearance of the first symptoms of cognitive decline. Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) could be the first pre-clinical sign of possible AD, which might be followed by mild cognitive impairment (MCI), the initial stage of clinical cognitive decline. However, the neural correlates of these prodromic stages are not completely clear yet.

Differences and Similarities in Empathy Deficit and Its Neural Basis between Logopenic and Amnesic Alzheimer's Disease.

The aims of the study were to assess empathy deficit and neuronal correlates in logopenic primary progressive aphasia (lv-PPA) and compare these data with those deriving from amnesic Alzheimer's disease (AD). Eighteen lv-PPA and thirty-eight amnesic AD patients were included. Empathy in both cognitive and affective domains was assessed by Informer-rated Interpersonal Reactivity Index (perspective taking, PT, and fantasy, FT, for cognitive empathy; empathic concern, EC, and personal distress, PD, for affective empathy) before (T0) and after (T1) cognitive symptoms' onset.

Alzheimer's Disease CSF Biomarker Profiles in Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus.

Patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) frequently show pathologic CSF Aβ levels, comparable with Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Nevertheless, the clinical meaning of these findings has not been fully explained. We aimed to assess the role of AD CSF biomarkers (Aβ, Aβ/Aβ, p-tau, t-tau) in iNPH.

Loss of speech and functional impairment in Alzheimer's disease-related primary progressive aphasia: predictive factors of decline.

We aimed to identify features associated with different disease trajectories in Alzheimer's disease (AD)-related primary progressive aphasia (PPA). We considered 23 patients diagnosed with AD-related PPA. All patients underwent neuropsychological evaluation, F-Fluorodeoxyglucose-PET brain scan, CSF biomarkers measurement and APOE genotype analysis at baseline and underwent neurological follow-up for a mean time of 3 years.

Intermediate alleles of HTT: A new pathway in longevity.

Centenarians are the best example of successful aging, reaching extreme longevity escaping age-related diseases. Genome sequencing studies provided evidence for genetic factors linked to heathy long life, including genes related to age-dependent diseases. HTT (Huntingtin) gene is linked to Huntington's Disease, but also associated to longevity in capuchins and mice.