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Andriuta D, Roussel M, Chene G, Fischer C, Mangin JF, Dubois B, Vellas B, Pasquier F, Tison F, Blanc F, Hanon O, Paquet C, Gabelle A, Ceccaldi M, Annweiler C, Krolak-Salmon P, David R, Rouch-Leroyer I, Benetos A, Moreaud O, Sellal F, Jalenques I, Vandel P, Bouteloup V, Godefroy O. The pattern of cortical thickness associated with executive dysfunction in MCI and SCC: The MEMENTO cohort. Rev Neurol (Paris) 2024:S0035-3787(24)00534-4. [PMID: 38866655 DOI: 10.1016/j.neurol.2024.02.394] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2023] [Revised: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 06/14/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The association between the pattern of cortical thickness (CT) and executive dysfunction (ED) in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) is still poorly understood. We aimed to investigate the association between CT and ED in a large French cohort (MEMENTO) of 2323 participants with MCI or SCC. METHODS All participants with available CT and executive function data (verbal fluency and Trail Making Test [TMT]) were selected (n=1924). Linear regressions were performed to determine relationships between executive performance and the brain parenchymal fraction (BPF) and CT using FreeSurfer. RESULTS The global executive function score was related to the BPF (sß: 0.091, P<0.001) and CT in the right supramarginal (sß: 0.060, P=0.041) and right isthmus cingulate (sß: 0.062, P=0.011) regions. Literal verbal fluency was related to the BPF (sß: 0.125, P<0.001) and CT in the left parsorbitalis region (sß: 0.045, P=0.045). Semantic verbal fluency was related to the BPF (sß: 0.101, P<0.001) and CT in the right supramarginal region (sß: 0.061, P=0.042). The time difference between the TMT parts B and A was related to the BPF (sß: 0.048, P=0.045) and CT in the right precuneus (sß: 0.073, P=0.019) and right isthmus cingulate region (sß: 0.054, P=0.032). CONCLUSIONS In a large clinically based cohort of participants presenting with either MCI or SCC (a potential early stage of Alzheimer's disease [AD]), ED was related to the BPF and CT in the left pars orbitalis, right precuneus, right supramarginal, and right isthmus cingulate regions. This pattern of lesions adds knowledge to the conventional anatomy of ED and could contribute to the early diagnosis of AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Andriuta
- Department of Neurology and Functional Neuroscience and Pathology Laboratory, Jules-Verne University of Picardy, Amiens University Hospital, CHU de Amiens-Picardie, 80054 Amiens, France.
| | - M Roussel
- Department of Neurology and Functional Neuroscience and Pathology Laboratory, Jules-Verne University of Picardy, Amiens University Hospital, CHU de Amiens-Picardie, 80054 Amiens, France
| | - G Chene
- School of Public Health, Inserm U1219, institut de santé publique, d'épidémiologie et de développement, université de Bordeaux, CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - C Fischer
- University Hospital, Sorbonne Universities, Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University, 75006 Paris, France; Institut du cerveau et la moelle (ICM), hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - J-F Mangin
- University Hospital, Sorbonne Universities, Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University, 75006 Paris, France; Institut du cerveau et la moelle (ICM), hôpital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - B Dubois
- University Hospital, Sorbonne Universities, Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University, 75006 Paris, France; Department of Neurology, Institute of Memory and Alzheimer's Disease (IM2A), Brain and Spine Institute (ICM) UMR S 1127, AP-HP Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris, France
| | - B Vellas
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Toulouse, CHU de Toulouse, hôpital La Grave-Casselardit, Toulouse, France
| | - F Pasquier
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Lille, hôpital Roger-Salengro, CHRU de Lille, 59000 Lille, France
| | - F Tison
- Institute for Neurodegenerative diseases, CMRR, University and University Hospital of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - F Blanc
- Department of Neurology, CHU de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
| | - O Hanon
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Paris Broca, hôpital Broca, AP-HP, 75013 Paris, France; Université Paris Descartes, Sorbonne-Paris-Cité, EA 4468, Paris, France
| | - C Paquet
- Cognitive Neurology Centre, groupe hospitalier Saint-Louis-Lariboisière-Fernand-Widal, université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - A Gabelle
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Montpellier, Hôpital Gui-de-Chauliac, CHU de Montpellier, 34000 Montpellier, France
| | - M Ceccaldi
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Marseille, hôpital La Timone, CHU de Marseille, 13000 Marseille, France
| | - C Annweiler
- Department of Geriatric Medicine and Memory Clinic, Research Center on Autonomy and Longevity, University Hospital, Angers, France; UPRES EA 4638, University of Angers, Angers, France; Department of Medical Biophysics, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada
| | - P Krolak-Salmon
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Lyon, hospices civils de Lyon, hôpital des Charpennes, 69000 Lyon, France
| | - R David
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Nice, CHU de Nice, Nice, France; Institut Claude-Pompidou, EA 7276 CoBTeK "Cognition Behaviour Technology", 06100 Nice, France
| | - I Rouch-Leroyer
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Saint-Étienne, hôpital Nord, CHU de Saint-Étienne, 42000 Saint-Étienne, France
| | - A Benetos
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Nancy, CHU de Nancy, 54000 Nancy, France
| | - O Moreaud
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Grenoble, hôpital de la Tronche, CHU de Grenoble Alpes, 38000 Grenoble, France
| | - F Sellal
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Strasbourg/Colmar, hôpitaux civils de Colmar, 68000 Colmar, France; Inserm U-1118, Strasbourg University, 67000 Strasbourg, France
| | - I Jalenques
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Clermont-Ferrand, Clermont-Auvergne University, CHU de Clermont-Ferrand, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - P Vandel
- Memory Resource and Research Centre of Besançon, hôpital Jean-Minjoz, hôpital Saint-Jacques, CHU de Besançon, 25000 Besançon, France
| | - V Bouteloup
- School of Public Health, Inserm U1219, institut de santé publique, d'épidémiologie et de développement, université de Bordeaux, CHU de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - O Godefroy
- Department of Neurology and Functional Neuroscience and Pathology Laboratory, Jules-Verne University of Picardy, Amiens University Hospital, CHU de Amiens-Picardie, 80054 Amiens, France
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Kaser AN, Lacritz LH, Winiarski HR, Gabirondo P, Schaffert J, Coca AJ, Jiménez-Raboso J, Rojo T, Zaldua C, Honorato I, Gallego D, Nieves ER, Rosenstein LD, Cullum CM. A novel speech analysis algorithm to detect cognitive impairment in a Spanish population. Front Neurol 2024; 15:1342907. [PMID: 38638311 PMCID: PMC11024431 DOI: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1342907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2023] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Objective Early detection of cognitive impairment in the elderly is crucial for diagnosis and appropriate care. Brief, cost-effective cognitive screening instruments are needed to help identify individuals who require further evaluation. This study presents preliminary data on a new screening technology using automated voice recording analysis software in a Spanish population. Method Data were collected from 174 Spanish-speaking individuals clinically diagnosed as cognitively normal (CN, n = 87) or impaired (mild cognitive impairment [MCI], n = 63; all-cause dementia, n = 24). Participants were recorded performing four common language tasks (Animal fluency, alternating fluency [sports and fruits], phonemic "F" fluency, and Cookie Theft Description). Recordings were processed via text-transcription and digital-signal processing techniques to capture neuropsychological variables and audio characteristics. A training sample of 122 subjects with similar demographics across groups was used to develop an algorithm to detect cognitive impairment. Speech and task features were used to develop five independent machine learning (ML) models to compute scores between 0 and 1, and a final algorithm was constructed using repeated cross-validation. A socio-demographically balanced subset of 52 participants was used to test the algorithm. Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), covarying for demographic characteristics, was used to predict logistically-transformed algorithm scores. Results Mean logit algorithm scores were significantly different across groups in the testing sample (p < 0.01). Comparisons of CN with impaired (MCI + dementia) and MCI groups using the final algorithm resulted in an AUC of 0.93/0.90, with overall accuracy of 88.4%/87.5%, sensitivity of 87.5/83.3, and specificity of 89.2/89.2, respectively. Conclusion Findings provide initial support for the utility of this automated speech analysis algorithm as a screening tool for cognitive impairment in Spanish speakers. Additional study is needed to validate this technology in larger and more diverse clinical populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alyssa N. Kaser
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Laura H. Lacritz
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
- Department of Neurology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Holly R. Winiarski
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | | | - Jeff Schaffert
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Alberto J. Coca
- AcceXible Impacto, Sociedad Limitada, Bilbao, Spain
- Cambridge Mathematics of Information in Healthcare Hub, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | | | - Tomas Rojo
- AcceXible Impacto, Sociedad Limitada, Bilbao, Spain
| | - Carla Zaldua
- AcceXible Impacto, Sociedad Limitada, Bilbao, Spain
| | | | | | - Emmanuel Rosario Nieves
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
- Parkland Health and Hospital System Behavioral Health Clinic, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Leslie D. Rosenstein
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
- Parkland Health and Hospital System Behavioral Health Clinic, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - C. Munro Cullum
- Department of Psychiatry, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
- Department of Neurology, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
- Department of Neurological Surgery, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
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Ferrante FJ, Migeot J, Birba A, Amoruso L, Pérez G, Hesse E, Tagliazucchi E, Estienne C, Serrano C, Slachevsky A, Matallana D, Reyes P, Ibáñez A, Fittipaldi S, Campo CG, García AM. Multivariate word properties in fluency tasks reveal markers of Alzheimer's dementia. Alzheimers Dement 2024; 20:925-940. [PMID: 37823470 PMCID: PMC10916979 DOI: 10.1002/alz.13472] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2023] [Revised: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 08/20/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Verbal fluency tasks are common in Alzheimer's disease (AD) assessments. Yet, standard valid response counts fail to reveal disease-specific semantic memory patterns. Here, we leveraged automated word-property analysis to capture neurocognitive markers of AD vis-à-vis behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). METHODS Patients and healthy controls completed two fluency tasks. We counted valid responses and computed each word's frequency, granularity, neighborhood, length, familiarity, and imageability. These features were used for group-level discrimination, patient-level identification, and correlations with executive and neural (magnetic resonanance imaging [MRI], functional MRI [fMRI], electroencephalography [EEG]) patterns. RESULTS Valid responses revealed deficits in both disorders. Conversely, frequency, granularity, and neighborhood yielded robust group- and subject-level discrimination only in AD, also predicting executive outcomes. Disease-specific cortical thickness patterns were predicted by frequency in both disorders. Default-mode and salience network hypoconnectivity, and EEG beta hypoconnectivity, were predicted by frequency and granularity only in AD. DISCUSSION Word-property analysis of fluency can boost AD characterization and diagnosis. HIGHLIGHTS We report novel word-property analyses of verbal fluency in AD and bvFTD. Standard valid response counts captured deficits and brain patterns in both groups. Specific word properties (e.g., frequency, granularity) were altered only in AD. Such properties predicted cognitive and neural (MRI, fMRI, EEG) patterns in AD. Word-property analysis of fluency can boost AD characterization and diagnosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franco J. Ferrante
- Centro de Neurociencias CognitivasUniversidad de San AndrésVictoriaProvincia de Buenos AiresArgentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos AiresArgentina
- Facultad de IngenieríaUniversidad de Buenos Aires (FIUBA)CABAArgentina
| | - Joaquín Migeot
- Latin American Brain Health (BrainLat) InstituteUniversidad Adolfo IbáñezPeñalolénRegión MetropolitanaChile
- Center for Social and Cognitive Neuroscience (CSCN)School of PsychologyUniversidad Adolfo IbáñezLas CondesChile
| | - Agustina Birba
- Centro de Neurociencias CognitivasUniversidad de San AndrésVictoriaProvincia de Buenos AiresArgentina
- Instituto Universitario de NeurocienciaUniversidad de La LagunaLa LagunaTenerifeEspaña
- Cognitive Department of PsychologyUniversidad de La LagunaLa LagunaTenerifeEspaña
| | - Lucía Amoruso
- Centro de Neurociencias CognitivasUniversidad de San AndrésVictoriaProvincia de Buenos AiresArgentina
- Basque Center on Cognition Brain and Language (BCBL)San SebastiánGipuzkoaEspaña
- IkerbasqueBasque Foundation for ScienceBilbaoSpain
| | - Gonzalo Pérez
- Centro de Neurociencias CognitivasUniversidad de San AndrésVictoriaProvincia de Buenos AiresArgentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos AiresArgentina
- Facultad de IngenieríaUniversidad de Buenos Aires (FIUBA)CABAArgentina
| | - Eugenia Hesse
- Centro de Neurociencias CognitivasUniversidad de San AndrésVictoriaProvincia de Buenos AiresArgentina
- Departamento de Matemática y CienciasUniversidad de San AndrésVictoriaProvincia de Buenos AiresArgentina
| | - Enzo Tagliazucchi
- Latin American Brain Health (BrainLat) InstituteUniversidad Adolfo IbáñezPeñalolénRegión MetropolitanaChile
- Departamento de FísicaUniversidad de Buenos Aires and Instituto de Física de Buenos Aires (IFIBA‐CONICET)CABAArgentina
| | - Claudio Estienne
- Instituto de Ingeniería BiomédicaUniversidad de Buenos AiresBuenos AiresArgentina
| | - Cecilia Serrano
- Unidad de Neurología CognitivaHospital César MilsteinCABAArgentina
| | - Andrea Slachevsky
- Neuropsychology and Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory (LANNEC)Physiopathology Department ‐ ICBMNeurocience and East Neuroscience DepartmentsFaculty of MedicineUniversity of ChileProvidenciaSantiagoChile
- Geroscience Center for Brain Health and Metabolism (GERO)Faculty of MedicineUniversity of ChileProvidenciaSantiagoChile
- Memory and Neuropsychiatric Clinic (CMYN) Neurology DepartmentHospital del Salvador and Faculty of MedicineUniversity of ChileProvidenciaSantiagoChile
- Servicio de NeurologíaDepartamento de MedicinaClínica Alemana‐Universidad del DesarrolloLas CondesRegión MetropolitanaChile
| | - Diana Matallana
- Instituto de EnvejecimientoDepartment of PsychiatrySchool of MedicinePontifical Xaverian UniversityBogotáColombia
- Department of Mental HealthHospital Universitario Santa Fe de BogotáBogotáColombia
| | - Pablo Reyes
- Centro de Memoria y CogniciónIntellectus‐Hospital Universitario San IgnacioBogotáColombia
- Pontificia Universidad JaverianaDepartments of PhysiologyPsychiatry and Aging InstituteBogotáColombia
| | - Agustín Ibáñez
- Centro de Neurociencias CognitivasUniversidad de San AndrésVictoriaProvincia de Buenos AiresArgentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos AiresArgentina
- Latin American Brain Health (BrainLat) InstituteUniversidad Adolfo IbáñezPeñalolénRegión MetropolitanaChile
- Global Brain Health Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USATrinity College DublinDublinIreland
| | - Sol Fittipaldi
- Centro de Neurociencias CognitivasUniversidad de San AndrésVictoriaProvincia de Buenos AiresArgentina
- Latin American Brain Health (BrainLat) InstituteUniversidad Adolfo IbáñezPeñalolénRegión MetropolitanaChile
- Global Brain Health Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USATrinity College DublinDublinIreland
| | - Cecilia Gonzalez Campo
- Centro de Neurociencias CognitivasUniversidad de San AndrésVictoriaProvincia de Buenos AiresArgentina
- Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET)Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos AiresArgentina
| | - Adolfo M. García
- Centro de Neurociencias CognitivasUniversidad de San AndrésVictoriaProvincia de Buenos AiresArgentina
- Latin American Brain Health (BrainLat) InstituteUniversidad Adolfo IbáñezPeñalolénRegión MetropolitanaChile
- Global Brain Health Institute, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USATrinity College DublinDublinIreland
- Departamento de Lingüística y LiteraturaFacultad de HumanidadesUniversidad de Santiago de ChileEstación CentralSantiagoChile
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Petríková D, Marko M, Rovný R, Riečanský I. Electrical stimulation of the cerebellum facilitates automatic but not controlled word retrieval. Brain Struct Funct 2023; 228:2137-2146. [PMID: 37783862 PMCID: PMC10587269 DOI: 10.1007/s00429-023-02712-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 09/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/04/2023]
Abstract
Recent research has indicated that the cerebellum is engaged in language functions, yet the role of the cerebellum in lexical-semantic memory is poorly understood. In a double-blind randomized controlled experiment, we therefore targeted the cerebellum by transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to assess and compare the contribution of the cerebellar processing to automatic and controlled retrieval of words in healthy adults (n = 136). Anodal cerebellar tDCS facilitated retrieval of semantically related words in free-associative chains, which was not due to a non-specific acceleration of processing speed. The stimulation had no influence on controlled word retrieval that employed inhibition or switching. The effect of cathodal tDCS was opposite to the anodal stimulation, but statistically non-significant. Our data show that the cerebellum is engaged extracting associative information from the system of semantic representations, established and strengthened/automated by learning, and indicates a domain-general role of this structure in automation of behavior, cognition and language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dominika Petríková
- Department of Behavioural Neuroscience, Centre of Experimental Medicine, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Sienkiewiczova 1, 81371, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Martin Marko
- Department of Behavioural Neuroscience, Centre of Experimental Medicine, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Sienkiewiczova 1, 81371, Bratislava, Slovakia
- Department of Applied Informatics, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Rastislav Rovný
- Department of Behavioural Neuroscience, Centre of Experimental Medicine, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Sienkiewiczova 1, 81371, Bratislava, Slovakia
| | - Igor Riečanský
- Department of Behavioural Neuroscience, Centre of Experimental Medicine, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Sienkiewiczova 1, 81371, Bratislava, Slovakia.
- Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Slovak Medical University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia.
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Wright LM, De Marco M, Venneri A. Current Understanding of Verbal Fluency in Alzheimer's Disease: Evidence to Date. Psychol Res Behav Manag 2023; 16:1691-1705. [PMID: 37179686 PMCID: PMC10167999 DOI: 10.2147/prbm.s284645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 04/05/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Since their development, verbal fluency tests (VFTs) have been used extensively throughout research and in clinical settings to assess a variety of cognitive functions in diverse populations. In Alzheimer's disease (AD), these tasks have proven particularly valuable in identifying the earliest forms of cognitive decline in semantic processing and have been shown to relate specifically to brain regions associated with the initial stages of pathological change. In recent years, researchers have developed more nuanced techniques to evaluate verbal fluency performance, extracting a wide range of cognitive metrics from these simple neuropsychological tests. Such novel techniques allow for a more detailed exploration of the cognitive processes underlying successful task performance beyond the raw test score. The versatility of VFTs and the richness of data they may provide, in light of their low cost and speed of administration, therefore, highlight their potential value both in future research as outcome measures for clinical trials and in a clinical setting as a screening measure for early detection of neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura M Wright
- Translational and Clinical Research Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK
| | - Matteo De Marco
- Department of Life Sciences, Brunel University London, London, UK
| | - Annalena Venneri
- Department of Life Sciences, Brunel University London, London, UK
- Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
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Shekari E, Nozari N. A narrative review of the anatomy and function of the white matter tracts in language production and comprehension. Front Hum Neurosci 2023; 17:1139292. [PMID: 37051488 PMCID: PMC10083342 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1139292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 02/24/2023] [Indexed: 03/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Much is known about the role of cortical areas in language processing. The shift towards network approaches in recent years has highlighted the importance of uncovering the role of white matter in connecting these areas. However, despite a large body of research, many of these tracts’ functions are not well-understood. We present a comprehensive review of the empirical evidence on the role of eight major tracts that are hypothesized to be involved in language processing (inferior longitudinal fasciculus, inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus, uncinate fasciculus, extreme capsule, middle longitudinal fasciculus, superior longitudinal fasciculus, arcuate fasciculus, and frontal aslant tract). For each tract, we hypothesize its role based on the function of the cortical regions it connects. We then evaluate these hypotheses with data from three sources: studies in neurotypical individuals, neuropsychological data, and intraoperative stimulation studies. Finally, we summarize the conclusions supported by the data and highlight the areas needing further investigation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ehsan Shekari
- Department of Neuroscience, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Nazbanou Nozari
- Department of Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), Pittsburgh, PA, United States
- *Correspondence: Nazbanou Nozari
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7
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Zengaffinen F, Stahnke A, Furger S, Wiest R, Dierks T, Strik W, Morishima Y. Computational analysis on verbal fluency reveals heterogeneity in subjective language interests and brain structure. NEUROIMAGE. REPORTS 2023; 3:100159. [PMID: 38606311 PMCID: PMC7615821 DOI: 10.1016/j.ynirp.2023.100159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2023]
Abstract
Language is an essential higher cognitive function in humans and is often affected by psychiatric and neurological disorders. Objective measures like the verbal fluency test are often used to determine language dysfunction. Recent applications of computational approaches broaden insights into language-related functions. In addition, individuals diagnosed with a psychiatric or neurological disorder also often report subjective difficulties in language-related functions. Therefore, we investigated the association between objective and subjective measures of language functioning, on the one hand, and inter-individual structural variations in language-related brain areas, on the other hand. We performed a Latent Semantic analysis (LSA) on a semantic verbal fluency task in 101 healthy adult participants. To investigate if these objective measures are associated with a subjective one, we examined assessed subjective natural tendency of interest in language-related activity with a study-specific questionnaire. Lastly, a voxel-based brain morphometry (VBM) was conducted to reveal associations between objective (LSA) measures and structural changes in language-related brain areas. We found a positive correlation between the LSA measure cosine similarity and the subjective interest in language. Furthermore, we found that higher cosine similarity corresponds to higher gray matter volume in the right cerebellum. The results suggest that people with higher interests in language access semantic knowledge in a more organized way exhibited by higher cosine similarity and have larger grey matter volume in the right cerebellum, when compared to people with lower interests. In conclusion, we demonstrate that there is inter-individual diverseness of accessing the semantic knowledge space and that it is associated with subjective language interests as well as structural differences in the right cerebellum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francilia Zengaffinen
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Antje Stahnke
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Stephan Furger
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Roland Wiest
- University Institute of Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Dierks
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Werner Strik
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Yosuke Morishima
- Translational Research Center, University Hospital of Psychiatry, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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8
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Aiello EN, Verde F, Solca F, Milone I, Giacopuzzi Grigoli E, Dubini A, Ratti A, Ferrucci R, Torresani E, Priori A, Ticozzi N, Silani V, Poletti B. Lower semantic fluency scores and a phonemic-over-semantic advantage predict abnormal CSF P-tau 181 levels in Aβ + patients within the Alzheimer's disease clinical spectrum. Neurol Sci 2023; 44:1979-1985. [PMID: 36705785 DOI: 10.1007/s10072-023-06643-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2022] [Accepted: 01/22/2023] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The present study aimed to determine whether patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia due to Alzheimer's disease (AD), semantic verbal fluency (SVF), and the semantic-phonemic discrepancy (SPD) could predict abnormal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) phosphorylated tau (P-tau181) and total tau (T-tau) levels. METHODS Phonemic verbal fluency (PVF) and SVF scores of N = 116 Aβ-positive patients with either MCI due to AD (N = 39) or probable AD dementia (ADD; N = 77) were retrospectively collected. The SPD was computed by subtracting PVF scores from SVF ones (positive and negative values corresponding to a semantic and phonemic advantage, respectively). Patients were cognitively phenotyped via a thorough test battery and profiled according to the amyloidosis/tauopathy/neurodegeneration (ATN) framework via CSF analyses. Two separate sets of logistic regressions were run to predict normal vs. abnormal P-tau181 and T-tau levels by encompassing as predictors SVF + PVF and SPD and covarying for demographic, disease-related features, and cognitive profile. RESULTS Lower SVF, but not PVF, scores, as well as a greater phonemic advantage (i.e., negative SPD values), predicted abnormal CSF P-tau181 levels (p ≤ .01). Moreover, lower SVF scores were selectively predictive of abnormal CSF T-tau levels too (p = .016), while the SPD was not. DISCUSSION SVF and the SPD are able to predict tauopathy across the AD spectrum, thus supporting their status of valid, and sufficiently specific, cognitive markers of AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edoardo Nicolò Aiello
- Department of Neurology and Laboratory of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Piazzale Brescia 20, 20149, Milan, Italy.,PhD Program in Neuroscience, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy
| | - Federico Verde
- Department of Neurology and Laboratory of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Piazzale Brescia 20, 20149, Milan, Italy.,Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, "Dino Ferrari" Center, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Federica Solca
- Department of Neurology and Laboratory of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Piazzale Brescia 20, 20149, Milan, Italy
| | - Ilaria Milone
- Department of Neurology and Laboratory of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Piazzale Brescia 20, 20149, Milan, Italy
| | | | - Antonella Dubini
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy
| | - Antonia Ratti
- Department of Neurology and Laboratory of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Piazzale Brescia 20, 20149, Milan, Italy.,Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Roberta Ferrucci
- Aldo Ravelli Center for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, Department of Health Sciences, International Medical School, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.,ASST Santi Paolo E Carlo, San Paolo University Hospital, Milan, Italy.,IRCCS Ca' Granda Foundation Maggiore Policlinico Hospital, Milan, Italy
| | - Erminio Torresani
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Laboratory of Clinical Chemistry, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy
| | - Alberto Priori
- Aldo Ravelli Center for Neurotechnology and Experimental Brain Therapeutics, Department of Health Sciences, International Medical School, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.,ASST Santi Paolo E Carlo, San Paolo University Hospital, Milan, Italy
| | - Nicola Ticozzi
- Department of Neurology and Laboratory of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Piazzale Brescia 20, 20149, Milan, Italy.,Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, "Dino Ferrari" Center, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Silani
- Department of Neurology and Laboratory of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Piazzale Brescia 20, 20149, Milan, Italy.,Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, "Dino Ferrari" Center, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
| | - Barbara Poletti
- Department of Neurology and Laboratory of Neuroscience, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Piazzale Brescia 20, 20149, Milan, Italy.
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9
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Falkenreck JM, Kunkler MC, Ophey A, Weigert H, Friese A, Jahr P, Nelles G, Kalbe E, Polidori MC. Effects of the Multicomponent Cognitive Training Program BrainProtect in Cognitively Healthy Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Alzheimers Dis 2023; 94:1013-1034. [PMID: 37393493 DOI: 10.3233/jad-220619] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Cognitive integrity is a fundamental driver of health. The exact structure of strategies against cognitive impairment is still under debate. OBJECTIVE To compare the short-term effects of a multicomponent cognitive training (BrainProtect) with those of general health counseling (GHC) on cognitive abilities and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in healthy adults in Germany. METHODS In this parallel randomized controlled trial (RCT), 132 eligible cognitively healthy adults (age ≥50 years, Beck Depression Inventory ≤9/63; Montreal Cognitive Assessment ≥26/30) were randomized to either GHC (N = 72) or to intervention with BrainProtect (intervention group, IG; N = 60). IG participants received 8 weekly sessions of 90 min of the group-based BrainProtect program focusing on executive functions, concentration, learning, perception, and imagination, plus nutritional and physical exercise units. Before and after intervention, all participants underwent neuropsychological testing and HRQoL evaluation, blinded for pretest. RESULTS No significant training effect was observed for the primary endpoint of global cognition as assessed by CERAD-Plus-z Total Score (p = 0.113; ηp2 = 0.023). Improvements in several cognitive subtests were shown in the IG (N = 53) compared to the GHC (N = 62) without adverse events. Differences reached significance for verbal fluency (p = 0.021), visual memory (p = 0.013), visuo-constructive functions (p = 0.034), and HRQoL (p = 0.009). Significance was lost after adjustment, though several changes were clinically relevant. CONCLUSION BrainProtect did not significantly impact global cognition in this RCT. Nevertheless, the results of some outcomes indicate clinically meaningful changes, so that a strengthening of the cognitive performance by BrainProtect cannot be excluded. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to confirm these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Maria Falkenreck
- Ageing Clinical Research, Department II of Internal Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Michelle Celine Kunkler
- Ageing Clinical Research, Department II of Internal Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Anja Ophey
- Department of Medical Psychology ∣ Neuropsychology and Gender Studies, Center for Neuropsychological Diagnostics and Intervention (CeNDI), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Hannah Weigert
- Ageing Clinical Research, Department II of Internal Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | | | | | | | - Elke Kalbe
- Department of Medical Psychology ∣ Neuropsychology and Gender Studies, Center for Neuropsychological Diagnostics and Intervention (CeNDI), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - M Cristina Polidori
- Ageing Clinical Research, Department II of Internal Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- CECAD, University of cologne, Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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10
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ÖZ D, ÖZBEK İŞBİTİREN Y, KIYI İ, YENER G. Sözel Akıcılık Testleri, Alzheimer Hastalığı klinik ölçütlerine göre evrelenmiş demans ve HKB ayrımında yarar sağlayabilir. CUKUROVA MEDICAL JOURNAL 2022. [DOI: 10.17826/cumj.1179620] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Demans tarama ve tanısı için klinik pratikte sıklıkla kısa tarama testleri kullanılmaktadır. Mini Mental Durum Testi (MMDT) en sık kullanılan testlerin başında gelmektedir. MMDT’nin demans için duyarlı olduğu bilinmektedir. Ancak, sağlıklı yaşlanma ile demans arasında bir geçiş evresi olarak kabul edilen Hafif Kognitif Bozukluk (HKB)’un ayırt edilmesinde ve Alzheimer Hastalığı tipi demans (AHD) ile HKB’nin ayırıcı tanısında MMDT çoğu zaman yeterli olmamaktadır. Kısa sürede uygulanabilen sözel akıcılık testleri (semantik ve fonemik) MMDT’ye alternatif ya da MMDT ile kullanıldığında HKB ve AH’nin erken evreleri için tanısal doğruluğu daha yüksek bir tarama testi elde edilebilir. Bu çalışmanın amacı MMDT, semantik ve fonemik akıcılık testlerinin ROC eğrisi analizleri ile belirlenen duyarlılık, özgüllük ve kesme puanı değerlerinin sunulmasıdır. Çalışmaya yaş-eğitim-cinsiyet açısından uyumlu 72 sağlıklı birey, 72 HKB ve 72 AHD’li birey dahil edilmiştir. Çalışmanın bulguları MMDT’nin sağlıklı bireyleri ayırt etmede semantik ve fonemik akıcılıktan daha güçlü olduğunu, ancak HKB ve AH ayrımında özgüllüğünün semantik akıcılıktan düşük olduğunu göstermektedir. Tanı doğruluğunun artırılması için kısa zamanda uygulanabilen sözel akıcılık testlerinin, özellikle semantik akıcılık testinin klinik pratiğe eklenmesi yararlı olabilir.
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11
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Design and Verbal Fluency in Alzheimer's Disease and Frontotemporal Dementia: Clinical and Metabolic Correlates. J Int Neuropsychol Soc 2022; 28:947-962. [PMID: 34569460 DOI: 10.1017/s1355617721001144] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Cognitive processes underlying verbal and design fluency, and their neural correlates in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and behavioural variant Frontotemporal Dementia (bvFTD) remain unclear. We hypothesised that verbal and design fluency may be associated with distinct neuropsychological processes in AD and FTD, showing different patterns of impairment and neural basis. METHODS We enrolled 142 participants including patients with AD (n = 80, mean age = 74.71), bvFTD (n = 34, mean age = 68.18), and healthy controls (HCs) (n = 28, mean age = 71.14), that underwent cognitive assessment and 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography imaging. RESULTS Semantic and phonemic fluency showed the largest effect sizes between groups, showing lower scores in bvFTD than AD and HCs, and lower scores in AD than HC. Both AD and bvFTD showed a lower number of unique designs in design fluency in comparison to HC. Semantic fluency was correlated with left frontotemporal lobe in AD, and with left frontal, caudate, and thalamus in bvFTD. Percentage of unique designs in design fluency was associated with the metabolism of the bilateral fronto-temporo-parietal cortex in AD, and the bilateral frontal cortex with right predominance in bvFTD. Repetitions in AD were correlated with bilateral frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes, and with left prefrontal cortex in bvFTD. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate differential underlying cognitive processes in verbal and design fluency in AD and bvFTD. While memory and executive functioning associated with fronto-temporo-parietal regions were key in AD, attention and executive functions correlated with the frontal cortex and played a more significant role in bvFTD during fluency tasks.
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12
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Huang H, Ma X, Yue X, Kang S, Li Y, Rao Y, Feng Y, Wu J, Long W, Chen Y, Lyu W, Tan X, Qiu S. White Matter Characteristics of Damage Along Fiber Tracts in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Clin Neuroradiol 2022; 33:327-341. [DOI: 10.1007/s00062-022-01213-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 08/06/2022] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Purpose
The white matter (WM) of the brain of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients is susceptible to neurodegenerative processes, but the specific types and positions of microstructural lesions along the fiber tracts remain unclear.
Methods
In this study 61 T2DM patients and 61 healthy controls were recruited and underwent diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI). The results were reconstructed with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI). WM microstructural abnormalities were identified using tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS). Pointwise WM tract differences were detected through automatic fiber quantification (AFQ). The relationships between WM tract abnormalities and clinical characteristics were explored with partial correlation analysis.
Results
TBSS revealed widespread WM lesions in T2DM patients with decreased fractional anisotropy and axial diffusivity and an increased orientation dispersion index (ODI). The AFQ results showed microstructural abnormalities in T2DM patients in specific portions of the right superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF), right arcuate fasciculus (ARC), left anterior thalamic radiation (ATR), and forceps major (FMA). In the right ARC of T2DM patients, an aberrant ODI was positively correlated with fasting insulin and insulin resistance, and an abnormal intracellular volume fraction was negatively correlated with fasting blood glucose. Additionally, negative associations were found between blood pressure and microstructural abnormalities in the right ARC, left ATR, and FMA in T2DM patients.
Conclusion
Using AFQ, together with DTI and NODDI, various kinds of microstructural alterations in the right SLF, right ARC, left ATR, and FMA can be accurately identified and may be associated with insulin and glucose status and blood pressure in T2DM patients.
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13
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Isella V, Licciardo D, Ferri F, Crivellaro C, Morzenti S, Appollonio I, Ferrarese C. Reduced phonemic fluency in progressive supranuclear palsy is due to dysfunction of dominant BA6. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:969875. [PMID: 36158541 PMCID: PMC9492952 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.969875] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Reduced phonemic fluency is extremely frequent in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), but its neural correlate is yet to be defined. Objective We explored the hypothesis that poor fluency in PSP might be due to neurodegeneration within a dominant frontal circuit known to be involved in speech fluency, including the opercular area, the superior frontal cortex (BA6), and the frontal aslant tract connecting these two regions. Methods We correlated performance on a letter fluency task (F, A, and S, 60 s for each letter) with brain metabolism as measured with Fluoro-deoxy-glucose Positron Emission Tomography, using Statistical Parametric Mapping, in 31 patients with PSP. Results Reduced letter fluency was associated with significant hypometabolism at the level of left BA6. Conclusion Our finding is the first evidence that in PSP, as in other neurogical disorders, poor self-initiated, effortful verbal retrieval appears to be linked to dysfunction of the dominant opercular-aslant-BA6 circuit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Valeria Isella
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Milano - Bicocca, Monza, Italy
- Milan Center for Neurosciences, Milan, Italy
| | - Daniele Licciardo
- Milan Center for Neurosciences, Milan, Italy
- Neurology Unit, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy
| | - Francesca Ferri
- Milan Center for Neurosciences, Milan, Italy
- Neurology Unit, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy
| | | | | | - Ildebrando Appollonio
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Milano - Bicocca, Monza, Italy
- Milan Center for Neurosciences, Milan, Italy
- Neurology Unit, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy
| | - Carlo Ferrarese
- Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of Milano - Bicocca, Monza, Italy
- Milan Center for Neurosciences, Milan, Italy
- Neurology Unit, San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy
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14
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Inter- and intra-individual variation in brain structural-cognition relationships in aging. Neuroimage 2022; 257:119254. [PMID: 35490915 PMCID: PMC9393406 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2022.119254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2022] [Revised: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The sources of inter- and intra-individual variability in age-related cognitive decline remain poorly understood. We examined the association between 20-year trajectories of cognitive decline and multimodal brain structure and morphology in older age. We used the Whitehall II Study, an extensively characterised cohort with 3T brain magnetic resonance images acquired at older age (mean age = 69.52 ± 4.9) and 5 repeated cognitive performance assessments between mid-life (mean age = 53.2 ±4.9 years) and late-life (mean age = 67.7 ± 4.9). Using non-negative matrix factorization, we identified 10 brain components integrating cortical thickness, surface area, fractional anisotropy, and mean and radial diffusivities. We observed two latent variables describing distinct brain-cognition associations. The first describes variations in 5 structural components associated with low mid-life performance across multiple cognitive domains, decline in reasoning, but maintenance of fluency abilities. The second describes variations in 6 structural components associated with low mid-life performance in fluency and memory, but retention of multiple abilities. Expression of latent variables predicts future cognition 3.2 years later (mean age = 70.87 ± 4.9). This data-driven approach highlights brain-cognition relationships wherein individuals degrees of cognitive decline and maintenance across diverse cognitive functions are both positively and negatively associated with markers of cortical structure.
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15
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Functional Relationship between Inhibitory Control, Cognitive Flexibility, Psychomotor Speed and Obesity. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12081080. [PMID: 36009143 PMCID: PMC9405914 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12081080] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2022] [Revised: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 08/13/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
In the last decades, it has been proposed that executive functions may be particularly vulnerable to weight-related issues. However, evidence on the matter is mixed, especially when the effects of sociodemographic variables are weighted. Thus, the current study aimed at further examining the relationship between executive functions and obesity. To this aim, we compared treatment-seeking overweight, obese, and morbidly obese patients with normal-weight control participants. We examined general executive functioning (Frontal Assessment Battery−15) and different executive subdomains (e.g., inhibitory control, verbal fluency, and psychomotor speed) in a clinical sample including 208 outpatients with different degrees of BMI (52 overweight, BMI 25−30, M age = 34.38; 76 obese, BMI 30−40, M age = 38.00; 80 morbidly obese, BMI > 40, M age = 36.20). Ninety-six normal-weight subjects served as controls. No difference on executive scores was detected when obese patients were compared with over- or normal-weight subjects. Morbidly obese patients reported lower performance on executive scores than obese, overweight, and normal-weight subjects. Between-group difference emerged also when relevant covariates were taken into account. Our results support the view that morbid obesity is associated with lower executive performance, also considering the critical role exerted by sociodemographic (i.e., sex, age, and education) variables. Our results support the view that executive functioning should be accounted into the management of the obese patient because of non-negligible clinical relevance in diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic terms.
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Cosentino S, Shih LC. Does essential tremor increase risk of cognitive impairment and dementia? Yes. INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF NEUROBIOLOGY 2022; 163:195-231. [PMID: 35750363 DOI: 10.1016/bs.irn.2022.02.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Essential Tremor (ET), by definition, is a disorder of movement. Yet over the years, epidemiologic, clinical, pathologic, and neuroimaging studies have converged to reveal a cognitive side of ET. The cognitive symptoms in ET are heterogeneous and are likely to reflect heterogeneous underlying mechanisms. In this chapter, we review and synthesize a diverse set of studies from both population-based settings to cohorts with more detailed investigations into cognition to consider the various mechanisms by which cognitive symptoms may emerge in a subset of individuals with ET. As part of our analysis, we consider questions surrounding ET diagnosis and the possibility of comorbid disease as potential factors that, upon closer examination, appear to strengthen the argument in favor of ET as a risk factor for dementia. Importantly, we also consider the clinical relevance of cognitive impairment in ET. While ET is not universally characterized by significant cognitive deficits, the data from epidemiological, cognitive, neuroimaging, and postmortem neuropathologic studies converge to reveal an increased risk for cognitive impairment and dementia among individuals with ET. We conclude by offering directions for future research, and a neurocognitive framework with which to consider existing findings and to use in the design of novel studies dedicated to clarifying the basis, nature, and course of cognitive impairments in ET.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Cosentino
- Cognitive Neuroscience Division of the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, United States; Department of Neurology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, United States.
| | - Ludy C Shih
- Department of Neurology, Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders Center, Boston Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, United States; Department of Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, United States.
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Executive Functions in Overweight and Obese Treatment-Seeking Patients: Cross-Sectional Data and Longitudinal Perspectives. Brain Sci 2022; 12:brainsci12060777. [PMID: 35741662 PMCID: PMC9220982 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci12060777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2022] [Revised: 06/09/2022] [Accepted: 06/12/2022] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recent evidence suggests that a higher body weight may be linked to cognitive impairment in different domains involving executive/frontal functioning. However, challenging results are also available. Accordingly, our study was designed to verify whether (i) poor executive functions are related to a higher body weight and (ii) executive functioning could contribute to weight loss in treatment-seeking overweight and obese patients. METHODS We examined general executive functioning, inhibitory control, verbal fluency, and psychomotor speed in a sample including 104 overweight and obese patients. Forty-eight normal-weight subjects participated in the study as controls. RESULTS Univariate Analysis of Variance showed that obese patients obtained lower scores than overweight and normal-weight subjects in all executive measures, except for errors in the Stroop test. However, when sociodemographic variables entered the model as covariates, no between-group difference was detected. Furthermore, an adjusted multiple linear regression model highlighted no relationship between weight loss and executive scores at baseline. CONCLUSIONS Our results provide further evidence for the lack of association between obesity and the executive domains investigated. Conflicting findings from previous literature may likely be due to the unchecked confounding effects exerted by sociodemographic variables and inclusion/exclusion criteria.
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Sugimoto H, Otake-Matsuura M. Tract-Based Spatial Statistics Analysis of Diffusion Tensor Imaging in Older Adults After the PICMOR Intervention Program: A Pilot Study. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 14:867417. [PMID: 35721023 PMCID: PMC9204185 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.867417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 04/26/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) enables the investigation of white matter properties in vivo by applying a tensor model to the diffusion of water molecules in the brain. Using DTI metrics including fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD), an attempt has been made to detect age-related alterations in the white matter microstructure in aging research. However, the use of comprehensive DTI measures to examine the effects of cognitive intervention/training on white matter fiber health in older adults remains limited. Recently, we developed a cognitive intervention program called Photo-Integrated Conversation Moderated by Robots (PICMOR), which utilizes one of the most intellectual activities of daily life, conversations. To examine the effects of PICMOR on cognitive function in older adults, we conducted a randomized controlled trial and found that verbal fluency task scores were improved by this intervention. Based on these behavioral findings, we collected in this pilot study diffusion-weighted images from the participants to identify candidate structures for white matter microstructural changes induced by this intervention. The results from tract-based spatial statistics analyses showed that the intervention group, who participated in PICMOR-based conversations, had significantly higher FA values or lower MD, AD, or RD values across various fiber tracts, including the left anterior corona radiata, external capsule, and anterior limb of the internal capsule, compared to the control group, who participated in unstructured free conversations. Furthermore, a larger improvement in verbal fluency task scores throughout the intervention was associated with smaller AD values in clusters, including the left side of these frontal regions. The present findings suggest that left frontal white matter structures are candidates for the neural underpinnings responsible for the enhancement of verbal fluency. Although our findings are limited by the lack of comparable data at baseline, we successfully confirmed the hypothesized pattern of group differences in DTI indices after the intervention, which fits well with the results of other cognitive intervention studies. To confirm whether this pattern reflects intervention-induced white matter alterations, longitudinal data acquisition is needed in future research.
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19
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Itaguchi Y, Castro-Chavira SA, Waterloo K, Johnsen SH, Rodríguez-Aranda C. Evaluation of Error Production in Animal Fluency and Its Relationship to Frontal Tracts in Normal Aging and Mild Alzheimer's Disease: A Combined LDA and Time-Course Analysis Investigation. Front Aging Neurosci 2022; 13:710938. [PMID: 35095462 PMCID: PMC8790484 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.710938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 12/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Semantic verbal fluency (VF), assessed by animal category, is a task widely used for early detection of dementia. A feature not regularly assessed is the occurrence of errors such as perseverations and intrusions. So far, no investigation has analyzed the how and when of error occurrence during semantic VF in aging populations, together with their possible neural correlates. The present study aims to address the issue using a combined methodology based on latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) analysis for word classification together with a time-course analysis identifying exact time of errors' occurrence. LDA is a modeling technique that discloses hidden semantic structures based on a given corpus of documents. We evaluated a sample of 66 participants divided into a healthy young group (n = 24), healthy older adult group (n = 23), and group of patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) (n = 19). We performed DTI analyses to evaluate the white matter integrity of three frontal tracts purportedly underlying error commission: anterior thalamic radiation, frontal aslant tract, and uncinate fasciculus. Contrasts of DTI metrics were performed on the older groups who were further classified into high-error rate and low-error rate subgroups. Results demonstrated a unique deployment of error commission in the patient group characterized by high incidence of intrusions in the first 15 s and higher rate of perseverations toward the end of the trial. Healthy groups predominantly showed very low incidence of perseverations. The DTI analyses revealed that the patients with AD committing high-error rate presented significantly more degenerated frontal tracts in the left hemisphere. Thus, our findings demonstrated that the appearance of intrusions, together with left hemisphere degeneration of frontal tracts, is a pathognomic trait of mild AD. Furthermore, our data suggest that the error commission of patients with AD arises from executive and working memory impairments related partly to deteriorated left frontal tracts.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Knut Waterloo
- Department of Psychology, UiT The Artic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital North Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Stein Harald Johnsen
- Department of Neurology, University Hospital North Norway, Tromsø, Norway
- Brain and Circulation Research Group, Department of Clinical Medicine, UiT The Artic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
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20
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Ahn H, Yi D, Chu K, Joung H, Lee Y, Jung G, Sung K, Han D, Lee JH, Byun MS, Lee DY. Functional Neural Correlates of Semantic Fluency Task Performance in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease: An FDG-PET Study. J Alzheimers Dis 2022; 85:1689-1700. [PMID: 34958036 PMCID: PMC9210291 DOI: 10.3233/jad-215292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Total score (TS) of semantic verbal fluency test (SVFT) is generally used to interpret results, but it is ambiguous as to specific neural functions it reflects. Different SVFT strategy scores reflecting qualitative aspects are proposed to identify specific cognitive functions to overcome limitations of using the TS. OBJECTIVE Functional neural correlates of the TS as well as the other strategy scores in subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia using Fluorine-18-Fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET). METHODS Correlations between various SVFT scores (i.e., TS, mean cluster size, switching (SW), hard switching, cluster switching (CSW)) and cerebral glucose metabolism were explored using voxelwise whole-brain approach. Subgroup analyses were also performed based on the diagnosis and investigated the effects of disease severity on the associations. RESULTS Significant positive correlation between TS and cerebral glucose metabolism was found in prefrontal, parietal, cingulate, temporal cortex, and subcortical regions. Significantly increased glucose metabolism associated with the SW were found in similar but smaller regions, mainly in the fronto-parieto-temporal regions. CSW was only correlated with the caudate. In the subgroup analysis conducted to assess different contribution of clinical severity, differential associations between the strategy scores and regional glucose metabolism were found. CONCLUSION SW and CSW may reflect specific language and executive functions better than the TS. The SVFT is influenced by brain dysfunction due to the progression of AD, as demonstrated by the SW with larger involvement of temporal lobe for the AD, and CSW with significant association only for the MCI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyejin Ahn
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Dahyun Yi
- Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea,Correspondence to: Dong Young Lee, MD, PhD, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital & Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 2072 2205; Fax: +82 2 744 7241; and Dahyun Yi, PhD, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 2072 1722;
| | - Kyungjin Chu
- Korea Counseling Center for Fertility and Depression, National Medical Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Haejung Joung
- Interdisciplinary Program of Cognitive Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Younghwa Lee
- Interdisciplinary Program of Cognitive Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Gijung Jung
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Kiyoung Sung
- Department of Psychiatry, Nowon Eulji Medical Center, Eulji University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Dongkyun Han
- Jamsil Forest Neuropsychiatric Clinic, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jun Ho Lee
- Mind Lab The Place Psychiatric Clinic, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Min Soo Byun
- Department of Psychiatry, Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital, Yangsan, Republic of Korea
| | - Dong Young Lee
- Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea,Institute of Human Behavioral Medicine, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea,Department of Psychiatry, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea,Correspondence to: Dong Young Lee, MD, PhD, Department of Neuropsychiatry, Seoul National University Hospital & Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 2072 2205; Fax: +82 2 744 7241; and Dahyun Yi, PhD, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03080, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 2 2072 1722;
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21
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Jang H, Soroski T, Rizzo M, Barral O, Harisinghani A, Newton-Mason S, Granby S, Stutz da Cunha Vasco TM, Lewis C, Tutt P, Carenini G, Conati C, Field TS. Classification of Alzheimer's Disease Leveraging Multi-task Machine Learning Analysis of Speech and Eye-Movement Data. Front Hum Neurosci 2021; 15:716670. [PMID: 34616282 PMCID: PMC8488259 DOI: 10.3389/fnhum.2021.716670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2021] [Accepted: 08/13/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative condition that results in impaired performance in multiple cognitive domains. Preclinical changes in eye movements and language can occur with the disease, and progress alongside worsening cognition. In this article, we present the results from a machine learning analysis of a novel multimodal dataset for AD classification. The cohort includes data from two novel tasks not previously assessed in classification models for AD (pupil fixation and description of a pleasant past experience), as well as two established tasks (picture description and paragraph reading). Our dataset includes language and eye movement data from 79 memory clinic patients with diagnoses of mild-moderate AD, mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or subjective memory complaints (SMC), and 83 older adult controls. The analysis of the individual novel tasks showed similar classification accuracy when compared to established tasks, demonstrating their discriminative ability for memory clinic patients. Fusing the multimodal data across tasks yielded the highest overall AUC of 0.83 ± 0.01, indicating that the data from novel tasks are complementary to established tasks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyeju Jang
- Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Thomas Soroski
- Vancouver Stroke Program and Division of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Matteo Rizzo
- Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Oswald Barral
- Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Anuj Harisinghani
- Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Sally Newton-Mason
- Vancouver Stroke Program and Division of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Saffrin Granby
- Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | | | - Caitlin Lewis
- Vancouver Stroke Program and Division of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Pavan Tutt
- Vancouver Stroke Program and Division of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Giuseppe Carenini
- Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Cristina Conati
- Department of Computer Science, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
| | - Thalia S Field
- Vancouver Stroke Program and Division of Neurology, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
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22
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Won J, Faroqi-Shah Y, Callow DD, Williams A, Awoyemi A, Nielson KA, Smith JC. Association Between Greater Cerebellar Network Connectivity and Improved Phonemic Fluency Performance After Exercise Training in Older Adults. CEREBELLUM (LONDON, ENGLAND) 2021; 20:542-555. [PMID: 33507462 PMCID: PMC10734642 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-020-01218-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/10/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Little is known about the effects of exercise training (ET) on lexical characteristics during fluency task and its association with cerebellum functional connectivity. The purposes of this study were (1) to investigate whether ET alters response patterns during phonemic and semantic fluency tasks and (2) to assess the association between ET-related changes in cerebellum functional connectivity (FC) and lexical characteristics during fluency tasks. Thirty-five older adults (78.0 ± 7.1 years; 17 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 18 healthy cognition (HC)) underwent a 12-week treadmill ET. Before and after ET, cardiorespiratory fitness tests, phonemic and semantic fluency tests, and resting-state fMRI scans were administered. We utilized a seed-based correlation analysis to measure cerebellum FC and linear regression to assess the association of residualized ET-induced Δcerebellum FC with Δtask performance. Improved mean switches and frequency during the phonemic fluency task were observed following ET in all participants. There were significant associations between ET-induced increases in cerebellum FC and greater phonemic fluency task log frequency, increases in mean switches, and a reduction in the number of syllables in HC. Lastly, there was a significant interaction between group and cerebellar connectivity on phonemic fluency mean log frequency and number of syllables. A 12-week walking ET is related to enhanced phonemic fluency lexical characteristics in older adults with MCI and HC. The association between ET-induced increases in cerebellum FC and enhanced response patterns after ET suggests that the cerebellum may play an important role in ET-related improvement in phonemic fluency performance in cognitively healthy older adults.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junyeon Won
- Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Yasmeen Faroqi-Shah
- Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Daniel D Callow
- Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Allison Williams
- Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Adewale Awoyemi
- Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA
| | - Kristy A Nielson
- Department of Psychology, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, USA
- Department of Neuropsychology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, USA
| | - J Carson Smith
- Department of Kinesiology, School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
- Program in Neuroscience and Cognitive Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
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23
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Arias-Trejo N, Luna-Umanzor DI, Angulo-Chavira A, Ríos-Ponce AE, González-González MM, Ramírez-Díaz JF, Sánchez-Reyes M, Marín-García G, Arias-Carrión O. Semantic verbal fluency: network analysis in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. JOURNAL OF COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/20445911.2021.1943414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Natalia Arias-Trejo
- Psycholinguistics Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Diana I. Luna-Umanzor
- Psycholinguistics Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Armando Angulo-Chavira
- Psycholinguistics Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Alma E. Ríos-Ponce
- Psycholinguistics Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| | | | - Jorge F. Ramírez-Díaz
- Psycholinguistics Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Minerva Sánchez-Reyes
- Psycholinguistics Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Gabriel Marín-García
- Psycholinguistics Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Oscar Arias-Carrión
- Movement and Sleep Disorder Unit, Dr. Manuel Gea González General Hospital, Mexico City, Mexico
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24
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Kaskikallio A, Karrasch M, Koikkalainen J, Lötjönen J, Rinne JO, Tuokkola T, Parkkola R, Grönholm-Nyman P. Effects of White Matter Hyperintensities on Verbal Fluency in Healthy Older Adults and MCI/AD. Front Aging Neurosci 2021; 13:614809. [PMID: 34025385 PMCID: PMC8134546 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2021.614809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2020] [Accepted: 03/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are markers for cerebrovascular pathology, which are frequently seen in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Verbal fluency is often impaired especially in AD, but little research has been conducted concerning the specific effects of WMH on verbal fluency in MCI and AD. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to examine the relationship between WMH and verbal fluency in healthy old age and pathological aging (MCI/AD) using quantified MRI data. METHODS Measures for semantic and phonemic fluency as well as quantified MRI imaging data from a sample of 42 cognitively healthy older adults and 44 patients with MCI/AD (total n = 86) were utilized. Analyses were performed both using the total sample that contained seven left-handed/ambidextrous participants, as well with a sample containing only right-handed participants (n = 79) in order to guard against possible confounding effects regarding language lateralization. RESULTS After controlling for age and education and adjusting for multiple correction, WMH in the bilateral frontal and parieto-occipital areas as well as the right temporal area were associated with semantic fluency in cognitively healthy and MCI/AD patients but only in the models containing solely right-handed participants. CONCLUSION The results indicate that white matter pathology in both frontal and parieto-occipital cerebral areas may have associations with impaired semantic fluency in right-handed older adults. However, elevated levels of WMH do not seem to be associated with cumulative effects on verbal fluency impairment in patients with MCI or AD. Further studies on the subject are needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alar Kaskikallio
- Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | - Mira Karrasch
- Department of Psychology, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | | | | | - Juha O. Rinne
- Turku PET-Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
- Division of Clinical Neurosciences, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | | | - Riitta Parkkola
- Department of Radiology, University Hospital of Turku, Turku, Finland
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25
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Boyle R, Jollans L, Rueda-Delgado LM, Rizzo R, Yener GG, McMorrow JP, Knight SP, Carey D, Robertson IH, Emek-Savaş DD, Stern Y, Kenny RA, Whelan R. Brain-predicted age difference score is related to specific cognitive functions: a multi-site replication analysis. Brain Imaging Behav 2021; 15:327-345. [PMID: 32141032 DOI: 10.1007/s11682-020-00260-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Brain-predicted age difference scores are calculated by subtracting chronological age from 'brain' age, which is estimated using neuroimaging data. Positive scores reflect accelerated ageing and are associated with increased mortality risk and poorer physical function. To date, however, the relationship between brain-predicted age difference scores and specific cognitive functions has not been systematically examined using appropriate statistical methods. First, applying machine learning to 1359 T1-weighted MRI scans, we predicted the relationship between chronological age and voxel-wise grey matter data. This model was then applied to MRI data from three independent datasets, significantly predicting chronological age in each dataset: Dokuz Eylül University (n = 175), the Cognitive Reserve/Reference Ability Neural Network study (n = 380), and The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (n = 487). Each independent dataset had rich neuropsychological data. Brain-predicted age difference scores were significantly negatively correlated with performance on measures of general cognitive status (two datasets); processing speed, visual attention, and cognitive flexibility (three datasets); visual attention and cognitive flexibility (two datasets); and semantic verbal fluency (two datasets). As such, there is firm evidence of correlations between increased brain-predicted age differences and reduced cognitive function in some domains that are implicated in cognitive ageing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rory Boyle
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Lloyd Building, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Lee Jollans
- Department of Translational Research in Psychiatry, Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, München, Germany
| | - Laura M Rueda-Delgado
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Lloyd Building, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Rossella Rizzo
- Physics Department, University of Calabria, Rende, CS, Italy
| | - Görsev G Yener
- Department of Neurosciences, Institute of Health Sciences, Dokuz Eylul University, İzmir, Turkey
- Department of Neurology, Dokuz Eylul University Medical School, İzmir, Turkey
- Brain Dynamics Multidisciplinary Research Center, Dokuz Eylul University, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Jason P McMorrow
- Centre for Advanced Medical Imaging, St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland
- School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Silvin P Knight
- School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
- The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Daniel Carey
- The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
- Department of Medical Gerontology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Ian H Robertson
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Lloyd Building, Dublin 2, Ireland
- Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Lloyd Building, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Derya D Emek-Savaş
- Department of Neurosciences, Institute of Health Sciences, Dokuz Eylul University, İzmir, Turkey
- Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Lloyd Building, Dublin 2, Ireland
- Department of Psychology, Faculty of Letters, Dokuz Eylul University, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Yaakov Stern
- Cognitive Neuroscience Division, Department of Neurology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Rose Anne Kenny
- School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
- The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
- Mercer's Institute for Successful Ageing, St. James's Hospital, Dublin 8, Ireland
| | - Robert Whelan
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Lloyd Building, Dublin 2, Ireland.
- Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Lloyd Building, Dublin 2, Ireland.
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26
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Turriziani P, Chiaramonte G, Mangano GR, Bonaventura RE, Smirni D, Oliveri M. Improvement of phonemic fluency following leftward prism adaptation. Sci Rep 2021; 11:7313. [PMID: 33790347 PMCID: PMC8012568 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-86625-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2020] [Accepted: 03/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Anatomo functional studies of prism adaptation (PA) have been shown to modulate a brain frontal-parieto-temporal network, increasing activation of this network in the hemisphere ipsilateral to the side of prism deviation. This effect raises the hypothesis that left prism adaptation, modulating frontal areas of the left hemisphere, could modify subjects’ performance on linguistic tasks that map on those areas. To test this hypothesis, 51 healthy subjects participated in experiments in which leftward or rightward prism adaptation were applied before the execution of a phonemic fluency task, i.e., a task with strict left hemispheric lateralization onto frontal areas. Results showed that leftward PA significantly increased the number of words produced whereas rightward PA did not significantly modulate phonemic fluency. The present findings document modulation of a language ability following prism adaptation. The results could have a huge clinical impact in neurological populations, opening new strategies of intervention for language and executive dysfunctions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrizia Turriziani
- Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 15, 90128, Palermo, Italy.,NeuroTeam Life and Science, Palermo, Italy
| | - Gabriele Chiaramonte
- Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 15, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Giuseppa Renata Mangano
- Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 15, 90128, Palermo, Italy.,NeuroTeam Life and Science, Palermo, Italy
| | - Rosario Emanuele Bonaventura
- Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 15, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Daniela Smirni
- Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 15, 90128, Palermo, Italy
| | - Massimiliano Oliveri
- Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences and Human Movement, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Ed. 15, 90128, Palermo, Italy. .,NeuroTeam Life and Science, Palermo, Italy.
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27
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Gellersen HM, Guell X, Sami S. Differential vulnerability of the cerebellum in healthy ageing and Alzheimer's disease. Neuroimage Clin 2021; 30:102605. [PMID: 33735787 PMCID: PMC7974323 DOI: 10.1016/j.nicl.2021.102605] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2020] [Revised: 01/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Recent findings challenge the prior notion that the cerebellum remains unaffected by Alzheimer's disease (AD). Yet, it is unclear whether AD exacerbates age-related cerebellar grey matter decline or engages distinct structural and functional territories. We performed a meta-analysis of cerebellar grey matter loss in normal ageing and AD. We mapped voxels with structural decline onto established brain networks, functional parcellations, and along gradients that govern the functional organisation of the cerebellum. Importantly, these gradients track continuous changes in cerebellar specialisation providing a more nuanced measure of the functional profile of regions vulnerable to ageing and AD. Gradient 1 progresses from motor to cognitive territories; Gradient 2 isolates attentional processing; Gradient 3 captures lateralisation differences in cognitive functions. We identified bilateral and right-lateralised posterior cerebellar atrophy in ageing and AD, respectively. Age- and AD-related structural decline only showed partial spatial overlap in right lobule VI/Crus I. Despite the seemingly distinct patterns of AD- and age-related atrophy, the functional profiles of these regions were similar. Both participate in the same macroscale networks (default mode, frontoparietal, attention), support executive functions and language processing, and did not exhibit a difference in relative positions along Gradients 1 or 2. However, Gradient 3 values were significantly different in ageing vs. AD, suggesting that the roles of left and right atrophied cerebellar regions exhibit subtle functional differences despite their membership in similar macroscale networks. These findings provide an unprecedented characterisation of structural and functional differences and similarities in cerebellar grey matter loss between normal ageing and AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Helena M Gellersen
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute (BCNI), Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Xavier Guell
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School, USA.
| | - Saber Sami
- Norwich Medical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, UK.
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28
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White matter pathways underlying Chinese semantic and phonological fluency in mild cognitive impairment. Neuropsychologia 2020; 149:107671. [PMID: 33189733 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2020.107671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2020] [Revised: 11/01/2020] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Neuroimaging evidence has suggested that Chinese-language processing differs from that of its alphabetic-language counterparts. However, the underlying white matter pathway correlations between semantic and phonological fluency in Chinese-language processing remain unknown. Thus, we investigated the differences between two verbal fluency tests on 50 participants with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and 36 healthy controls (HC) with respect to five groups (ventral and dorsal stream fibers, frontal-striatal fibers, hippocampal-related fibers, and the corpus callosum) of white matter microstructural integrity. Diffusion spectrum imaging was used. The results revealed a progressive reduction in advantage in semantic fluency relative to phonological fluency from HC to single-domain aMCI to multidomain aMCI. Common and dissociative white matter correlations between tests of the two types of fluency were identified. Both types of fluency relied on the corpus callosum and ventral stream fibers, semantic fluency relied on the hippocampal-related fibers, and phonological fluency relied on the dorsal stream and frontal-striatal fibers. The involvement of bilateral tracts of interest as well as the association with the corpus callosum indicate the uniqueness of Chinese-language fluency processing. Dynamic associations were noted between white matter tract involvement and performance on the two fluency tests in four time blocks. Overall, our findings suggest the clinical utility of verbal fluency tests in geriatric populations, and they elucidate both task-specific and language-specific brain-behavior associations.
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29
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Petti U, Baker S, Korhonen A. A systematic literature review of automatic Alzheimer's disease detection from speech and language. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2020; 27:1784-1797. [PMID: 32929494 PMCID: PMC7671617 DOI: 10.1093/jamia/ocaa174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2020] [Revised: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 07/14/2020] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVE In recent years numerous studies have achieved promising results in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) detection using automatic language processing. We systematically review these articles to understand the effectiveness of this approach, identify any issues and report the main findings that can guide further research. MATERIALS AND METHODS We searched PubMed, Ovid, and Web of Science for articles published in English between 2013 and 2019. We performed a systematic literature review to answer 5 key questions: (1) What were the characteristics of participant groups? (2) What language data were collected? (3) What features of speech and language were the most informative? (4) What methods were used to classify between groups? (5) What classification performance was achieved? RESULTS AND DISCUSSION We identified 33 eligible studies and 5 main findings: participants' demographic variables (especially age ) were often unbalanced between AD and control group; spontaneous speech data were collected most often; informative language features were related to word retrieval and semantic, syntactic, and acoustic impairment; neural nets, support vector machines, and decision trees performed well in AD detection, and support vector machines and decision trees performed well in decline detection; and average classification accuracy was 89% in AD and 82% in mild cognitive impairment detection versus healthy control groups. CONCLUSION The systematic literature review supported the argument that language and speech could successfully be used to detect dementia automatically. Future studies should aim for larger and more balanced datasets, combine data collection methods and the type of information analyzed, focus on the early stages of the disease, and report performance using standardized metrics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ulla Petti
- Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge, Language Technology Lab, Cambridge, UK
| | - Simon Baker
- Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge, Language Technology Lab, Cambridge, UK
| | - Anna Korhonen
- Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge, Language Technology Lab, Cambridge, UK
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30
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Tessaro B, Hermes-Pereira A, Schilling LP, Fonseca RP, Kochhann R, Hübner LC. Verbal fluency in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment in individuals with low educational level and its relationship with reading and writing habits. Dement Neuropsychol 2020; 14:300-307. [PMID: 32973983 PMCID: PMC7500813 DOI: 10.1590/1980-57642020dn14-030011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Verbal fluency (VF) has contributed to building cognitive maps as well as differentiating healthy populations from those with dementia. Objectives To compare the performance of healthy controls and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in two semantic VF tasks (animals/clothes) and a phonemic VF task (letter P). Also, to analyze the relationship between the frequency of reading and writing habits (FRWH) and VF in individuals with low educational level. Methods Sixty-seven older adults aged 60-80 years and with 2-8 years of schooling were divided into three groups: controls (n=25), older adults with MCI (n=24), and older adults with AD (n=18). We analyzed the type, mean size, and number of clusters, switches, intersections, and returns. A post-hoc single-factor ANOVA analysis was conducted to verify differences between groups. Results Total words in the phonemic VF and the animal category discriminated the three groups. Regarding the animal category, AD patients performed worse than controls in the total number of words, taxonomic clusters, returns, and number of words remembered. We found a moderate correlation between FRWH and total number of words in the phonemic fluency. Conclusions Semantic (animate) and phonemic (total words) VF differentiated controls and clinical groups from each other - the phonemic component was more related to FRWH than the semantic one. The phonemic VF seems to be more related to cognitive reserve. VF tasks, considering total words and cluster analyses, are a valuable tool to test healthy and cognitively impaired older adults who have a low educational level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruna Tessaro
- Linguistics Department, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | | | - Lucas Porcello Schilling
- Brain Institute - Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.,Neurology Service, São Lucas Hospital, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Rochele Paz Fonseca
- Psychology Department, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.,National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Brasília, DF, Brazil
| | - Renata Kochhann
- Psychology Department, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Lilian Cristine Hübner
- Linguistics Department, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul - Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.,National Council for Scientific and Technological Development - Brasília, DF, Brazil
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31
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Cerebellar Grey Matter Volume in Older Persons Is Associated with Worse Cognitive Functioning. THE CEREBELLUM 2020; 20:9-20. [PMID: 32816194 DOI: 10.1007/s12311-020-01148-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
The cerebellum is increasingly recognised for its role in modulation of cognition, behaviour, and affect. The present study examined the relation between structural cerebellar damage (grey matter volume (GMV), white matter hyperintensities (WMHs), lacunar infarcts (LIs) and microbleeds (MBs)) and measures of cognitive, psychological (i.e. symptoms of depression and apathy) and general daily functioning in a population of community-dwelling older persons with mild cognitive deficits, but without dementia. In 194 participants of the Discontinuation of Antihypertensive Treatment in Elderly People (DANTE) Study Leiden, the association between cerebellar GMV, WMHs, LIs and MBs and measures of cognitive, psychological and general daily functioning was analysed with linear regression analysis, adjusted for age, sex, education and cerebral volume. Cerebellar GMV was associated with the overall cognition score (standardised beta 0.20 [95% CI, 0.06-0.33]). Specifically, posterior cerebellar GMV was associated with executive function (standardised beta 0.18 [95% CI, 0.03-0.16]). No relation was found between vascular pathology and cognition. Also, no consistent associations were found on the cerebellar GMV and vascular pathology measures and psychological and general daily functioning. In this population of community-dwelling elderly, less posterior cerebellar GMV but not vascular pathology was associated with worse cognitive function, specifically with poorer executive function. No relation was found between cerebellar pathology and psychological and general daily functioning.
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32
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Paek EJ, Murray LL, Newman SD. Neural Correlates of Verb Fluency Performance in Cognitively Healthy Older Adults and Individuals With Dementia: A Pilot fMRI Study. Front Aging Neurosci 2020; 12:73. [PMID: 32265685 PMCID: PMC7100367 DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2020.00073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 02/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Currently there are ~6 million Americans who are affected by dementia. Verbal fluency tasks have been commonly and frequently utilized to document the disease progression in many forms of dementia. Verb fluency has been found to display substantial potential to detect and monitor the cognitive declines of individuals with dementia who have fronto-striatal involvement. The neural substrates underlying verb fluency task performance, however, have remained unclear so far, especially in individuals with dementia. Therefore, in the current study, brain activation patterns of seven individuals with dementia and nine healthy older adults were investigated using functional MRI. The participants performed in the scanner an overt, subject-paced verb fluency task, representative of fluency tasks used in clinical settings. The brain activation patterns during the verb fluency task were compared between the two groups, and a correlational analysis was conducted to determine the neural correlates of verb fluency performance. The results suggest that compared to healthy older adults, individuals with dementia demonstrated poorer verb fluency performance and showed higher activation in specific neural regions, such as the bilateral frontal lobe. In addition, the correlational analysis revealed that poorer verb fluency performance lead to increased activation in certain cortical and subcortical areas, including left hippocampus and right supramarginal gyrus. The current findings are consistent with previous neurophysiological findings related to semantic (noun) fluency performance in older adults and individuals with dementia and add to the empirical evidence that supports the role of the frontal lobe and hippocampus in verb retrieval and search. Declines in verb fluency performance cannot only be used as a cognitive marker, but also represent neuropathological changes due to the neurodegenerative disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eun Jin Paek
- Department of Audiology and Speech Pathology, The University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Knoxville, TN, United States
| | - Laura L. Murray
- School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Western University London, London, ON, Canada
| | - Sharlene D. Newman
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, United States
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33
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Karamaouna P, Zouraraki C, Giakoumaki SG. Cognitive Functioning and Schizotypy: A Four-Years Study. Front Psychiatry 2020; 11:613015. [PMID: 33488431 PMCID: PMC7820122 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.613015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Although there is ample evidence from cross-sectional studies indicating cognitive deficits in high schizotypal individuals that resemble the cognitive profile of schizophrenia-spectrum patients, there is still lack of evidence by longitudinal/follow-up studies. The present study included assessments of schizotypal traits and a wide range of cognitive functions at two time points (baseline and 4-years assessments) in order to examine (a) their stability over time, (b) the predictive value of baseline schizotypy on cognition at follow-up and (c) differences in cognition between the two time points in high negative schizotypal and control individuals. Only high negative schizotypal individuals were compared with controls due to the limited number of participants falling in the other schizotypal groups at follow-up. Seventy participants (mean age: 36.17; 70% females) were assessed at baseline and follow-up. Schizotypal traits were evaluated with the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire. We found that schizotypal traits decreased over time, except in a sub-group of participants ("schizotypy congruent") that includes individuals who consistently meet normative criteria of inclusion in either a schizotypal or control group. In these individuals, negative schizotypy and aspects of cognitive-perceptual and disorganized schizotypy remained stable. The stability of cognitive functioning also varied over time: response inhibition, aspects of cued attention switching, set-shifting and phonemic/semantic verbal fluency improved at follow-up. High negative schizotypy at baseline predicted poorer response inhibition and semantic switching at follow-up while high disorganized schizotypy predicted poorer semantic processing and complex processing speed/set-shifting. The between-group analyses revealed that response inhibition, set-shifting and complex processing speed/set-shifting were poorer in negative schizotypals compared with controls at both time points, while maintaining set and semantic switching were poorer only at follow-up. Taken together, the findings show differential stability of the schizotypal traits over time and indicate that different aspects of schizotypy predict a different pattern of neuropsychological task performance during a 4-years time window. These results are of significant use in the formulation of targeted early-intervention strategies for high-risk populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Penny Karamaouna
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece.,University of Crete Research Center for the Humanities, The Social and Educational Sciences (UCRC), University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece
| | - Chrysoula Zouraraki
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece.,University of Crete Research Center for the Humanities, The Social and Educational Sciences (UCRC), University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece
| | - Stella G Giakoumaki
- Laboratory of Neuropsychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece.,University of Crete Research Center for the Humanities, The Social and Educational Sciences (UCRC), University of Crete, Rethymno, Greece
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34
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Blecher T, Miron S, Schneider GG, Achiron A, Ben-Shachar M. Association Between White Matter Microstructure and Verbal Fluency in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis. Front Psychol 2019; 10:1607. [PMID: 31379663 PMCID: PMC6657651 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2018] [Accepted: 06/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Verbal fluency refers to the ability to generate words quickly and efficiently according to predefined phonological or semantic criteria. Deficits in verbal fluency limit patients’ ability to communicate effectively and to function well in social setups. Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients suffer from various cognitive impairments, and some of them experience language deficits as well. The goal of this study is to examine the contribution of the dorsal and ventral language pathways to verbal fluency in MS patients. All patients (N = 33) underwent diffusion MRI (dMRI) and fluency measurements. Diffusion parameters were calculated along dorsal and ventral language-related pathways and their right-hemispheric homologs, identified individually in each patient. Significant correlations were found between fluency measures and mean fractional anisotropy (FA) in several pathways, including the left fronto-temporal arcuate fasciculus (AFft), bilateral inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), and bilateral frontal aslant tract. Along-tract correlations revealed a more selective pattern of associations: letter-based fluency was associated with FA in a segment of the left AFft (dorsal pathway), while category-based fluency was associated with FA in a segment of the right IFOF (ventral pathway). The observed pattern of associations, mapping letter-based fluency to the dorsal stream and category-based fluency to the ventral stream, fits well within the dual stream framework of language processing. Further studies will be necessary to assess whether these associations generalize to the typical adult population or whether they are tied to the clinical state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tal Blecher
- Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
| | - Shmuel Miron
- Multiple Sclerosis Center, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel
| | | | - Anat Achiron
- Multiple Sclerosis Center, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.,Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Michal Ben-Shachar
- Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.,Department of English Literature and Linguistics, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
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35
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Herrera-García JD, Rego-García I, Guillén-Martínez V, Carrasco-García M, Valderrama-Martín C, Vílchez-Carrillo R, López-Alcalde S, Carnero-Pardo C. Discriminative validity of an abbreviated Semantic Verbal Fluency Test. Dement Neuropsychol 2019; 13:203-209. [PMID: 31285795 PMCID: PMC6601302 DOI: 10.1590/1980-57642018dn13-020009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Semantic verbal fluency (SVF) is one of the most widely used tests for cognitive
assessment due to its diagnostic utility (DU).
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Affiliation(s)
- José David Herrera-García
- Cognitive-Behavioral Neurology Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain
| | - Iago Rego-García
- Cognitive-Behavioral Neurology Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain
| | - Virginia Guillén-Martínez
- Cognitive-Behavioral Neurology Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain
| | | | - Carmen Valderrama-Martín
- Cognitive-Behavioral Neurology Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain
| | - Rosa Vílchez-Carrillo
- Cognitive-Behavioral Neurology Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain
| | - Samuel López-Alcalde
- Cognitive-Behavioral Neurology Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain
| | - Cristóbal Carnero-Pardo
- Cognitive-Behavioral Neurology Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital Universitario Virgen de las Nieves, Granada, Spain.,FIDYAN Neurocenter, Granada, Spain
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36
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Nation DA, Sweeney MD, Montagne A, Sagare AP, D'Orazio LM, Pachicano M, Sepehrband F, Nelson AR, Buennagel DP, Harrington MG, Benzinger TLS, Fagan AM, Ringman JM, Schneider LS, Morris JC, Chui HC, Law M, Toga AW, Zlokovic BV. Blood-brain barrier breakdown is an early biomarker of human cognitive dysfunction. Nat Med 2019; 25:270-276. [PMID: 30643288 PMCID: PMC6367058 DOI: 10.1038/s41591-018-0297-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 892] [Impact Index Per Article: 178.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2018] [Accepted: 11/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Daniel A Nation
- Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Department of Psychology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Melanie D Sweeney
- Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Axel Montagne
- Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Abhay P Sagare
- Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Lina M D'Orazio
- Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Maricarmen Pachicano
- Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Farshid Sepehrband
- Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Amy R Nelson
- Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | | | | | - Tammie L S Benzinger
- Department of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.,The Hope Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Anne M Fagan
- The Hope Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.,Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.,The Knight Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - John M Ringman
- Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Lon S Schneider
- Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - John C Morris
- The Hope Center for Neurodegenerative Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA.,Department of Neurology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, USA
| | - Helena C Chui
- Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Meng Law
- Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Department of Radiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Arthur W Toga
- Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.,Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, USC Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Berislav V Zlokovic
- Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. .,Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
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