HARNESSING TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA AND THEIR CAREGIVERS

Abstract One in eight older adults in the US has Alzheimer’s disease or a related dementia, which are characterized by progressive cognitive and physical declines. The impact of dementia also goes beyond the individual since 92% of persons with dementia receive functional and emotional support from family members and other informal caregivers. The time demands, financial strain, and emotional toll of caregiving are known to cause increased stress and health problems. Therefore, there is a wealth of opportunities to develop new ways to intervene in the progressive loss of function among persons with dementia and ways to support them and their caregivers. Co-sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias and Technology and Aging Interest Groups, this symposium addresses innovations in the implementation of new and existing technologies in the dementia care continuum. We will discuss the development and testing of a new mobile application designed to integrate both physical activity and cognitive training. Then we will discuss results from a virtual support group intervention to provide disease education, care planning, and emotional and social support among persons newly diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and living alone. Next we will share results from a study using customized voice-assisted technologies to enable individuals with memory impairment to maintain independence and quality of life and reduce caregiver burden. Finally, we will present findings regarding the validity and accuracy of a wearable sensor-based device that measures skin conductivity and heart rate variability to monitor stress level among caregivers of persons with dementia.

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RECRUITMENT INTO THE ALZHEIMER PREVENTION TRIALS (APT) WEBSTUDY FOR A TRIAL-READY COHORT FOR PRECLINICAL AND PRODROMAL ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE (TRCPAD)

Journal of Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease ◽

10.14283/jpad.2020.46 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

S. Walter ◽

T.B. Clanton ◽

O.G. Langford ◽

M.S. Rafii ◽

E.J. Shaffer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Effective Means ◽

Web Based ◽

The Us ◽

Study Team ◽

Prodromal Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Prevention Trials ◽

Study Participants ◽

The Impact

BACKGROUND: The Alzheimer Prevention Trials (APT) Webstudy is the first stage in establishing a Trial-ready Cohort for Preclinical and Prodromal Alzheimer’s disease (TRC-PAD). This paper describes recruitment approaches for the APT Webstudy. Objectives: To remotely enroll a cohort of individuals into a web-based longitudinal observational study. Participants are followed quarterly with brief cognitive and functional assessments, and referred to Sites for in-clinic testing and biomarker confirmation prior to enrolling in the Trial-ready Cohort (TRC). Design: Participants are referred to the APT Webstudy from existing registries of individuals interested in brain health and Alzheimer’s disease research, as well as through central and site recruitment efforts. The study team utilizes Urchin Tracking Modules (UTM) codes to better understand the impact of electronic recruitment methods. Setting: A remotely enrolled online study. Participants: Volunteers who are at least 50 years old and interested in Alzheimer’s research. Measurements: Demographics and recruitment source of participant where measured by UTM. Results: 30,650 participants consented to the APT Webstudy as of April 2020, with 69.7% resulting from referrals from online registries. Emails sent by the registry to participants were the most effective means of recruitment. Participants are distributed across the US, and the demographics of the APT Webstudy reflect the referral registries, with 73.1% female, 85.0% highly educated, and 92.5% Caucasian. Conclusions: We have demonstrated the feasibility of enrolling a remote web-based study utilizing existing registries as a primary referral source. The next priority of the study team is to engage in recruitment initiatives that will improve the diversity of the cohort, towards the goal of clinical trials that better represent the US population.

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Microglial TREM2 at the Intersection of Brain Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease

The Neuroscientist ◽

10.1177/10738584211040786 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107385842110407

Author(s):

Wenhui Qu ◽

Ling Li

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Inflammatory Responses ◽

Brain Aging ◽

Synaptic Function ◽

Loss Of Function ◽

Neuronal Function ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Health And Disease ◽

The Impact

As resident immune cells of the brain, microglia serve pivotal roles in regulating neuronal function under both physiological and pathological conditions, including aging and the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease, Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Instructed by neurons, microglia regulate synaptic function and guard brain homeostasis throughout life. Dysregulation of microglial function, however, can lead to dire consequences, including aggravated cognitive decline during aging and exacerbated neuropathology in diseases. The triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) is a key regulator of microglial function. Loss-of-function variants of TREM2 are associated with an increased risk of AD. TREM2 orchestrates the switch of microglial transcriptome programming that modulates microglial chemotaxis, phagocytosis, and inflammatory responses, as well as microglial regulation of synaptic function in health and disease. Intriguingly, the outcome of microglial/TREM2 function is influenced by age and the context of neuropathology. This review summarizes the rapidly growing research on TREM2 under physiological conditions and in AD, particularly highlighting the impact of TREM2 on neuronal function.

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Alzheimer's Disease International

International Psychogeriatrics ◽

10.1017/s1041610297004146 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 5-6

Author(s):

Nori Graham

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

The Individual ◽

The Impact

Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) aims to promote and support the work of national Alzheimer associations. Their main purpose is to support carers of people with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias, and to raise awareness of the impact of the disease on the individual and the carer.

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A VIRTUAL SUPPORT GROUP FOR PERSONS LIVING ALONE WITH ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igz038.1431 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. S389-S390

Author(s):

Allison Gibson

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Support Group ◽

Group Intervention ◽

Early Stage ◽

Living Alone ◽

Challenges And Opportunities ◽

Before And After ◽

Group Members ◽

Virtual Support

Abstract To date, early stage programming for the persons with the disease has been limited. The purpose of this study was to explore the challenges and opportunities of a virtual support group intervention for persons living alone with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Following recruitment, participants who were newly diagnosed (within 2 years of diagnosis) and residing alone in their own residence were included in a pilot study of a virtual support group intervention for a 3-month period. Data were collected before and after the intervention through the use of surveys and one-on-one interviews with all 12 participants (n=12). Data were analyzed using a mixed methods approach including thematic analysis. Results indicated that the virtual support group intervention increased group members’ education of the disease, knowledge regarding care planning, feelings of empowerment towards the diagnosis of the disease, and increased feelings of social support. Implications for such interventions will also be discussed.

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A Model to Transform Communities Toward Becoming Dementia Inclusive

Innovation in Aging ◽

10.1093/geroni/igab046.1974 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽

pp. 513-513

Author(s):

Jennifer Drost ◽

Margaret Sanders

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Developmental Disability ◽

Community Level ◽

Community Living ◽

Community Initiatives ◽

The Us ◽

The Individual

Abstract As the US population ages, the prevalence of people living with dementia will also increase. It is estimated that by 2050, 13.8 million American’s 65 and older will be diagnosed with dementia, and currently only 40% of those living with dementia receive an official diagnosis. 70% of people living with dementia live in the community. In order to optimize quality of life and extend each person’s ability to remain living in their homes for as long as possible, it is important for communities to educate consumers and providers alike about Alzheimer’s Disease and related dementias, focusing on behaviors and interventions. This education must cross multiple sectors to effectively increase awareness, decrease stigma, and enable participation in community living for people living with dementia and their caregivers. Dementia Friends USA offers a framework for implementation of dementia friendly inclusive community initiatives that spans professions and incorporates patient and caregiver perspectives. The four symposia will 1) lead us through the evidence that supports the Dementia Friends USA approach, 2) demonstrate how this approach can be operationalized in a truly integrated fashion at the community level using HRSA’s Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP), 3) provide step-by-step instructions for implementing Dementia Friends Community sessions, focusing on one sector at a time (in this case the Developmental Disability population), and 4) discuss the individual and community level outcomes of Dementia Friends implementation.

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Polygenic Hazard Score Associated Multimodal Brain Networks Along the Alzheimer’s Disease Continuum

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnagi.2021.725246 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

Author(s):

Kaicheng Li ◽

Zening Fu ◽

Shile Qi ◽

Xiao Luo ◽

Qingze Zeng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Late Onset ◽

Brain Networks ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Standard Uptake Value ◽

Good Choice ◽

Multimodal Fusion ◽

The Individual ◽

The Impact

BackgroundLate-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a polygenic neurodegenerative disease. Identifying the neuroimaging phenotypes behind the genetic predisposition of AD is critical to the understanding of AD pathogenesis. Two major questions which previous studies have led to are: (1) should the general “polygenic hazard score” (PHS) be a good choice to identify the individual genetic risk for AD; and (2) should researchers also include inter-modality relationships in the analyses considering these may provide complementary information about the AD etiology.MethodsWe collected 88 healthy controls, 77 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 22 AD patients to simulate the AD continuum included from the ADNI database. PHS-guided multimodal fusion was used to investigate the impact of PHS on multimodal brain networks in AD-continuum by maximizing both inter-modality association and reference-modality correlation. Fractional amplitude of low frequency fluctuations, gray matter (GM) volume, and amyloid standard uptake value ratios were included as neuroimaging features. Eventually, the changes in neuroimaging features along AD continuum were investigated, and relationships between cognitive performance and identified PHS associated multimodal components were established.ResultsWe found that PHS was associated with multimodal brain networks, which showed different functional and structural impairments under increased amyloid deposits. Notably, along with AD progression, functional impairment occurred before GM atrophy, amyloid deposition started from the MCI stage and progressively increased throughout the disease continuum.ConclusionPHS is associated with multi-facets of brain impairments along the AD continuum, including cognitive dysfunction, pathological deposition, which might underpin the AD pathogenesis.

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THE IMPACT OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE ON EMOTIONAL PROCESSING

10.5327/1980-5764.rpda053 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rogeria Cristina Silva ◽

Raquel Luíza Carvalho ◽

Marcia Cristina Dourado

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Cognitive Performance ◽

Systematic Reviews ◽

Emotional Processing ◽

Emotion Processing ◽

Emotional Perception ◽

The Individual ◽

Meta Analyses ◽

The Impact

Background: Emotional processing involves the ability of the individual to infer emotional information. There is no consensus about how Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects emotional processing. Objective: We aim to systematically review the impact of AD on emotion processing Method: We conducted a search based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The literature search was performed using the electronic databases MEDLINE (Pubmed) and Science Citation Index (ISI). The following descriptors were used in the review process: emotion or emotional processing, cognition or cognitive functions and Alzheimer disease or Alzheimer’s disease. This systematic review was recorded in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) under the number CRD42018115891. Results: We identified 425 articles, 19 of which met our criteria. Visual emotional stimuli were the most used among studies. Most studies used tasks of emotional naming, discrimination, identification and correspondence. The results were contradictory. Many studies reported that individuals with AD were impaired on emotional perception tasks, while others results reported preserved skills. The relationship between emotional processing and cognition is also unclear. Some studies suggested that general cognitive performance affects performance in emotional perception tasks among people with AD, but other studies have shown deficits in recognizing emotion, regardless cognitive performance. Conclusions: Studies are scarce, present contradictory results, and report impairment in emotional processing in relation to cognition. Moreover, analyzes of correlation between emotion processing and cognitive functioning failed to reveal clear relationships.

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