Listening session with the US Food and Drug Administration, Lewy Body Dementia Association, and an expert panel.

Unlabelled: The regulatory path for drug approval is increasingly well defined. Drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer disease (AD) need to show statistically significant benefit over placebo with respect to cognitive and functional measures, with the Clinical Dementia Rating scale and Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale-Cognitive Subscale being among the most often used instruments in AD clinical trials. In contrast, there are no validated instruments for use in clinical trials of drugs for the treatment of dementia with Lewy bodies.

Chronic Depressive Symptomatology in Mild Cognitive Impairment Is Associated with Frontal Atrophy Rate which Hastens Conversion to Alzheimer Dementia.

Objective: Investigate the association of chronic depressive symptomatology (chrDS) with cortical atrophy rates and conversion to Alzheimer dementia (AD) over 3 years in mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Methods: In a multicenter, clinic-based study, MCI elderly participants were selected from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative repository, based on availability of both serial structural magnetic resonance imaging and chrDS endorsed on three depression-related items from the Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (chrDS N = 32 or no depressive symptoms N = 62) throughout follow-up. Clinical and laboratory investigations were performed every 6 months during the first 2 years and yearly thereafter (median follow-up: 3 years; interquartile range: 1.

At the interface of sensory and motor dysfunctions and Alzheimer's disease.

Recent evidence indicates that sensory and motor changes may precede the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) by several years and may signify increased risk of developing AD. Traditionally, sensory and motor dysfunctions in aging and AD have been studied separately. To ascertain the evidence supporting the relationship between age-related changes in sensory and motor systems and the development of AD and to facilitate communication between several disciplines, the National Institute on Aging held an exploratory workshop titled "Sensory and Motor Dysfunctions in Aging and AD.

Mild cognitive impairment: a concept in evolution.

The construct of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has evolved over the past 10 years since the publication of the new MCI definition at the Key Symposium in 2003, but the core criteria have remained unchanged. The construct has been extensively used worldwide, both in clinical and in research settings, to define the grey area between intact cognitive functioning and clinical dementia. A rich set of data regarding occurrence, risk factors and progression of MCI has been generated.

Hypothyroidism and risk of mild cognitive impairment in elderly persons: a population-based study.

Importance: An association of clinical and subclinical hypothyroidism with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has not been established.

Objective: To evaluate the association of clinical and subclinical hypothyroidism with MCI in a large population-based cohort.

Design, Setting, And Participants: A cross-sectional, population-based study was conducted in Olmsted County, Minnesota.

Statins use and risk of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Importance: Statin use has been associated with depression; however studies of the association between statin use and depression have yielded mixed results.

Objective: To determine whether statin use is associated with depression and to evaluate the evidence supporting this association.

Data Sources: Ovid MEDLINE In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations, Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycInfo, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Scopus were searched through December 28, 2012.

New clinical criteria for the Alzheimer's disease spectrum.

New criteria for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease (AD) were recently published. These criteria cover the entire spectrum of AD including dementia due to AD, mild cognitive impairment due to AD, and preclinical AD. A major feature of the new criteria is that they distinguish between the clinical characteristics of the disorder and the pathological features.

Clinical, genetic, and neuropathologic characteristics of posterior cortical atrophy.

Objective: To examine the clinical, genetic, and neuropathologic features of posterior cortical atrophy (PCA).

Design/methods: Using a broad definition of PCA as a syndrome with the insidious onset of visual dysfunction in the absence of primary ophthalmologic causes, the authors identified and then reviewed the presenting signs and symptoms, ApoE genotypes, tau haplotypes, and neuropathologic findings when available of PCA cases from two dementia research centers collected over the past 14 years.

Results: The authors identified 40 PCA cases.

Comparison of the short test of mental status and the mini-mental state examination in mild cognitive impairment.

Background: The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is the most widely used brief screening measure of cognition, but it is not sensitive in detecting mild memory or other cognitive impairments. The Short Test of Mental Status (STMS) was specifically developed for use in dementia assessment and was intended to be more sensitive to problems of learning and mental agility that may be seen in mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Objective: To compare the STMS and MMSE for detecting or predicting MCI.

Mild cognitive impairment in the oldest old.

Background: No data exist on whether the syndrome of amnestic mild cognitive impairment occurs in the oldest old, or if the relationships for functional status and neuropsychometric performance based on clinical diagnosis hold true in this age group.

Design/methods: The authors performed comprehensive neurologic evaluations, neuropsychometric testing, and functional assessments on a sample of 90- to 100-year-old residents of Rochester, MN. Subjects were diagnosed as normal or with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia according to well-accepted criteria.

Current management of sleep disturbances in dementia.

The management of sleep disturbances in patients with dementia is a complicated and enormously important clinical and societal problem. In this review, we present one approach to the diagnosis and management of such sleep disturbances. Most disturbances can be categorized into four primary symptoms: insomnia, hypersomnia, excessive nocturnal motor activity, and hallucinations or behavioral problems.

Mild cognitive impairment: transition between aging and Alzheimer's disease.

The concept of the boundary between normal aging and early Alzheimer's disease is a focus of a great deal of research in the field of aging and dementia. Presumably there is a continuum of function between normality and the earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease. This transitional condition has been labeled mild cognitive impairment.