Dementia e Neuropsychologia最新文献

Locked-in syndrome is a neurological condition characterized by tetraplegia, mutism, preservation of vertical eye movement, superior eyelid movement, and intact consciousness, making it impossible for the patient to communicate properly. We herein describe a case to analyze the practice of developing a method of communication for a patient with locked-in syndrome. Two communication boards were created, adapted to the Portuguese language, as well as a shortcut to inquire about the physical and emotional patient's well-being. We had difficulty with the initial communication board, due to the patient's low education level, so we adapted a new one to the patient's social context, including a shortcut to inquire about physical and emotional well-being. The communication board had a positive impact on treatment development and the patient's life.

The Everyday Cognition (ECog) scale was created to evaluate the functional abilities of older adults across a wide range of abilities between normal aging and dementia. ECog screens cognitive alterations such as subjective cognitive decline (SCD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This early recognition is done by the measurement of the ability to perform the activities of daily living (ADLs).

Objective: To establish the cross-cultural adaptation, validity, and reliability of the ECog Mexican version (M-ECog) in participants with: SCD, MCI, and dementia coming from a memory clinic.

Methods: There were 200 patients and their respective informants in a memory clinic of a third level hospital in Mexico City. Four groups were studied: 50 cognitively healthy (CH), 50 SCD, 50 MCI, and 50 dementia. The clinical evaluation included: sociodemographic and health characteristics, cognitive status by the Mini-Mental State Evaluation (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Evaluation Spanish version (MoCA-E), and caregiver information (informants) about the difficulty in ADLs as well as the ECog Spanish version (M-ECog).

Results: The M-ECog was significantly correlated with MMSE, MoCA-E, and ADLs. It showed the ability to discriminate the different cognitive declines (Cronbach's alpha 0.881). The intra-class correlation coefficient was 0.877 (95% confidence interval - CI, 0.850-0.902; p<0.001). The patient's group area under curve (AUC) of M-ECog for SCD was 0.70 (95%CI 0.58-0.82, p<0.005), for MCI it was 0.94 (95%CI 0.89-0.99, p<0.001) and for dementia 0.86 (95%CI 0.79-0.92, p<0.001).

Conclusion: The M-ECog scale proves to be valid and reliable for measuring everyday abilities mediated by cognition. It is self-applicable without requiring extensive prior formation. It is useful to screen for SCD and MCI in older Mexican adults.

Stress during aging is not uncommon and dysfunctional family relationships are important sources of stress in the elderly. Considering the potential stressor that family dysfunction represents, it is questioned whether prolonged exposure to dysfunctional family arrangements can contribute to cognitive decline in aging.

Objective: To verify whether family dysfunction is a predictive factor of cognitive decline in aging.

Methods: Secondary study with analysis of existing data from the longitudinal, population-based study "Health, Wellbeing and Aging" (SABE). Data from 791 elderly people from two cohorts of the SABE study between 2006 and 2015 were analyzed. Family dysfunction was assessed using the Apgar family instrument, while cognitive performance was assessed using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), verbal fluency (animals) and digit length in reverse order. Cognitive decline was measured by the difference in scores in the period between 2006 and 2015.

Results: Approximately 10% of the sample had family dysfunction. The familial Apgar score was not associated with decline on MMSE (p=0.732), verbal fluency (p=0.852) and digit span scores (p=0.718). Scores related to cognition and family functionality, such as age, education, living alone, depression and family Apgar, do not explain cognitive decline.

Conclusion: The findings indicate that family functioning is not associated with cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly. New studies will be needed to analyze the qualitative characteristics of family relationships in the cognitive performance of the elderly.

The high prevalence of Alzheimer's disease and dementia is a growing concern for healthcare systems and patients.

Objective: The primary objective of our study was to assess the association of depression and heart disease on the risk of dementias like Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia in patients.

Methods: This retrospective study used electronic health records data that was provided by the HealthVerity™ Marketplace. The characteristics of the patient population were recorded and the risk of dementia was examined using adjusted logistic regression models.

Results: The analysis included 49,735 participants and revealed that patients who have heart disease or depression had a higher risk of dementia. Patients who had both heart disease and depression were over three times more likely to have dementia and Alzheimer's disease, and over five times more likely to have vascular dementia compared to patients who only have a diagnosis of heart disease. Depression was associated with a fourfold increase in the risk of dementia. Participants with a diagnosis of most types of heart disease as well as depression had increased risk for developing dementia.

Conclusion: This study revealed that patients with both heart disease and depression had increased odds of having dementia as well as vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease. These findings may serve to support policies and healthcare decision-making to increase preventive measures for dementia and Alzheimer's disease among patients with both depression and heart disease.

CBF measured with Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) obtained by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) may become an important biomarker by showing changes in early stages of AD, such as in the prodromal stage of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI).

Objective: Verify the correlation between atrophy and CBF in patients with MCI and mild phase ADD, to demonstrate whether changes in CBF can be considered as vascular biomarkers in the diagnosis of the DA continuum.

Methods: 11 healthy volunteers, 16 MCI and 15 mild ADD were evaluated. Images of the brain were acquired, including CBF measured with Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL).

Results: When comparing MCI with control, a reduction in normalized CBF was observed in left posterior cingulate (estimated difference -0.38; p=0.02), right posterior cingulate (estimated difference -0.45; p=0.02) and right precuneus (estimated difference -0.28; p <0.01); also increase in normalized CBF in right upper temporal pole (estimated difference 0.22; p=0.03). It was also observed that in MCI, the smaller the gray matter volume, the smaller the CBF in the left posterior cingulate; as well as the greater the cerebrospinal fluid volume, consequent to the encephalic volumetric reduction associated with atrophy, the greater the CBF in the right superior temporal pole. When comparing controls, MCI and mild AD, in relation to the other variables, no other correlations were observed between CBF and atrophy.

Conclusion: In patients with MCI, the reduction of CBF in the left posterior cingulate correlated with gray matter atrophy, as well as the increase of CBF in the right upper temporal pole correlated with an increase in cerebrospinal fluid consequent to the encephalic volumetric reduction associated with atrophy, demonstrating the influence of CBF in AD related brain atrophy. These findings position CBF as a possible vascular biomarker for early-stage AD diagnoses.

Monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) polymorphisms have been associated with antisocial disorders. Less attention has been paid to the cognitive functioning of individuals with different MAOA alleles. No study has described the cognitive phenotype associated with the less frequent, low enzyme activity allele, MAOA_LPR*2R.

Objective: We describe the cognitive correlates of boys having MAOA_LPR*2R allele, ascertained in a sample of school children with normal intelligence, not referred for behavioral disorders.

Methods: Participants were eight boys, attending from the second to fifth grades in state-run schools. They were identified among 712 children with typical general cognitive ability, genotyped for MAOA_LPR polymorphism. Participants were assessed with general intelligence, mathematics and spelling achievement, and verbal and visuospatial working memory tests. Neuropsychological performance was compared to published standards, using 1 SD below the mean as a cutoff value for low performance.

Results: Intelligence of boys with MAOA_LPR*2R allele varied from above average (N=2) to low average in the other children. Five out of eight boys with the MAOA_LPR*2R allele had low mathematics achievement, and three presented additional difficulties with spelling. Four out of eight children had low short-term and working memory performance.

Discussion: This is the first study describing cognitive correlates and school performance in boys having the MAOA_LPR*2R allele. Having this allele, and therefore, probably low MAO-A activity, does not necessarily imply low intelligence or low school performance. However, learning difficulties, particularly in math, and low working memory performance were observed in boys having this allele. This suggests a role of MAOA in learning difficulties.

Changes in personality traits in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) are extremely common throughout the course of the pathology, and these behavioral changes present themselves as challenges in clinical management and as a significant cause of caregivers' burden.

Objective: Using a personality inventory based on the five-factor model of personality, this study aimed to assesses the change in these factors by comparing the premorbid and current personality of individuals recently diagnosed with AD.

Methods: A total of 30 AD patients were recruited, and their respective family members responded to the personality inventory at home through a hosted site. The patients were also divided into two groups according to the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR): mild dementia (CDR 1) and moderate dementia (CDR 2).

Results: Among all patients, there was a significant increase in neuroticism factor levels and a significant decrease in the extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, and socialization factors. When comparing the groups, only the extraversion factor showed a difference, with CDR 1 group accusing a higher change in scores. Higher scores in the factor neuroticism in the premorbid personality correlated with the current severity of the disease.

Conclusions: This research draws the attention of family members and health professionals to changes in personality traits or behavior of relatives or patients, because it can reflect an underlying neurodegenerative process.

The Multisensory Stimulation Program can help manage behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of the Multisensory Stimulation Program on behavioral, mood, and biomedical parameters of older adults with moderate and severe dementia compared to a control group not submitted to this program.

Methods: This study is an interventional, parallel, open-label, quasi-experimental clinical trial, which is quantitative and qualitative in nature and is also an exploratory type. The sample was divided for convenience into intervention group (IG) and control group (GC) that did not participate in the Multisensory Stimulation Program. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, nonparametric tests (two-tailed alpha value of 0.1 was applied), and thematic content analysis.

Results: The sample consisted of 20 older adults (IG=10 and GC=10), with a mean age of 83 years, an average of 3 years of education, and moderate or severe dementia. Reduction in intervention group behavioral changes (p=0.059) and numerical improvement in intervention group cognition were observed. A decrease in heart rate (p<0.05) and diastolic blood pressure (p<0.05) was observed before and immediately after the session in the intervention group. The caregivers described engaged behavior in intervention group, while they reported apathetic behavior in control group. Session records described verbal and nonverbal communication and sustained attention for more than 3 min regarding the sensory resource explored.

Conclusions: The Multisensory Stimulation Program could be a new look at the health care practices performed in the nursing homes that consider the older adults' sensory preferences and may help with dementia behavior management.

Non-pharmacological interventions, such as the use of music, have been shown to be important potential means of controlling adverse symptoms and signs resulting from chronic diseases already present in elderly patients with dementia.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to analyze the effects of concert music on cognitive and physiological parameters, and behavioral and psychological symptoms in institutionalized elderly people with dementia.

Methods: A descriptive-exploratory, quantitative, quasi-experimental study was conducted with 14 elderly people. They were allocated in intervention group (IG) (n=7) with eight sessions of music listening, once a week, for 2 months, and control group (CG) (n=7) with the same procedure but without listening to the music. All participants were assessed by Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) and Addenbrooke's Cognitive Examination - Revised (ACE-R) before and after the intervention. Blood pressure (BP) data were obtained; heart rate (HR) and coherence were obtained through Cardioemotion during sessions. The data were analyzed using Fisher's exact test and Student's t-test.

Results: There was a predominance of female participants, who were widowed and diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in both groups. A statistically significant reduction was found in the mean of apathy reduction (p=0.038) and the total mean of NPI-Q severity (p=0.033) (paired Student's t-test) in IG. No significant differences were found in mean level of the pre- and post-analysis variables in CG.

Conclusions: Concert music had a positive effect on the behavior of institutionalized elderly. Stimuli and possibilities of improving the current behavioral conditions are observed.