Mining Twitter to Inform the Design of Online Interventions for Hispanic Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias Caregivers

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 138-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunmoo Yoon ◽  
Robert Lucero ◽  
Mary S. Mittelman ◽  
José A. Luchsinger ◽  
Suzanne Bakken
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Topic Models ◽  
Network Size ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Content Mining ◽  
Using Data

Background/Objective: Hispanics are about 1.5 times as likely as non-Hispanic Whites to experience Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD). Eight percent of AD/ADRD caregivers are Hispanics. The purpose of this article is to provide a methodological case study of using data mining methods and the Twitter platform to inform online self-management and social support intervention design and evaluation for Hispanic AD/ADRD caregivers. It will enable other researchers to replicate the methods for their phenomena of interest. Method: We extracted an analytic corpus of 317,658 English and Spanish tweets, applied content mining (topic models) and network structure analysis (macro-, meso-, and micro-levels) methods, and created visualizations of results. Results: The topic models showed differences in content between English and Spanish tweet corpora and between years analyzed. Our methods detected significant structural changes between years including increases in network size and subgroups, decrease in proportion of isolates, and increase in proportion of triads of the balanced communication type. Discussion/Conclusion: Each analysis revealed key lessons that informed the design and/or evaluation of online self-management and social support interventions for Hispanic AD/ADRD caregivers. These lessons are relevant to others wishing to use Twitter to characterize a particular phenomenon or as an intervention platform.

scholarly journals Commonalities between Copper Neurotoxicity and Alzheimer’s Disease

Toxics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Roshni Patel ◽  
Michael Aschner
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Copper Ion ◽  
Plaque Formation ◽  
Ion Concentration ◽  
Medical Community ◽  
Disease Etiology ◽  
Parent Protein ◽  
Lead Zinc

Alzheimer’s disease, a highly prevalent form of dementia, targets neuron function beginning from the hippocampal region and expanding outwards. Alzheimer’s disease is caused by elevated levels of heavy metals, such as lead, zinc, and copper. Copper is found in many areas of daily life, raising a concern as to how this metal and Alzheimer’s disease are related. Previous studies have not identified the common pathways between excess copper and Alzheimer’s disease etiology. Our review corroborates that both copper and Alzheimer’s disease target the hippocampus, cerebral cortex, cerebellum, and brainstem, affecting motor skills and critical thinking. Additionally, Aβ plaque formation was analyzed beginning from synthesis at the APP parent protein site until Aβ plaque formation was completed. Structural changes were also noted. Further analysis revealed a relationship between amyloid-beta plaques and copper ion concentration. As copper ion levels increased, it bound to the Aβ monomer, expediting the plaque formation process, and furthering neurodegeneration. These conclusions can be utilized in the medical community to further research on the etiology of Alzheimer’s disease and its relationships to copper and other metal-induced neurotoxicity.

scholarly journals Changes in retinal microvasculature and retinal layer thickness in association with apolipoprotein E genotype in Alzheimer’s disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joo Youn Shin ◽  
Eun Young Choi ◽  
Min Kim ◽  
Hyung Keun Lee ◽  
Suk Ho Byeon
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Layer Thickness ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Foveal Avascular Zone ◽  
Retinal Layer ◽  
Inner Plexiform Layer ◽  
Apoe Ε4 ◽  
Retinal Microvasculature ◽  
Capillary Plexus

AbstractBiomarker tests of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are invasive and expensive. Recent developments in optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) have enabled noninvasive, cost-effective characterization of retinal layer vasculature and thickness. Using OCTA and OCT, we characterized retinal microvascular changes in the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage of AD and assessed their correlation with structural changes in each retinal neuronal layer. We also evaluated the effect of the APOE-ε4 genotype on retinal microvasculature and layer thickness. Retinal layer thickness did not differ between MCI patients (40 eyes) and controls (37 eyes, all p > 0.05). MCI patients had lower vessel density (VD) (p = 0.003) of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and larger foveal avascular zone area (p = 0.01) of the deep capillary plexus (DCP) than those of controls. VD of the SCP correlated with the ganglion cell layer (r = 0.358, p = 0.03) and inner plexiform layer thickness (r = 0.437, p = 0.007) in MCI patients. APOE-ε4-carrying MCI patients had a lower VD of the DCP than non-carriers (p = 0.03). In conclusion, retinal microvasculature was reduced in patients with AD-associated MCI, but retinal thickness was not changed; these changes might be affected by the APOE genotype. OCTA of the retinal microvasculature may be useful to detect vascular changes in AD.

Structural Changes in Thalamic Nuclei Across Prodromal and Clinical Alzheimer’s Disease

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Adam S. Bernstein ◽  
Steven Z. Rapcsak ◽  
Michael Hornberger ◽  
Manojkumar Saranathan ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Thalamic Nuclei ◽  
Medial Temporal Lobes ◽  
Cognitive Changes ◽  
Temporal Lobes ◽  
Medial Geniculate ◽  
Healthy Control

Background: Increasing evidence suggests that thalamic nuclei may atrophy in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We hypothesized that there will be significant atrophy of limbic thalamic nuclei associated with declining memory and cognition across the AD continuum. Objective: The objective of this work was to characterize volume differences in thalamic nuclei in subjects with early and late mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as well as AD when compared to healthy control (HC) subjects using a novel MRI-based thalamic segmentation technique (THOMAS). Methods: MPRAGE data from the ADNI database were used in this study (n = 540). Healthy control (n = 125), early MCI (n = 212), late MCI (n = 114), and AD subjects (n = 89) were selected, and their MRI data were parcellated to determine the volumes of 11 thalamic nuclei for each subject. Volumes across the different clinical subgroups were compared using ANCOVA. Results: There were significant differences in thalamic nuclei volumes between HC, late MCI, and AD subjects. The anteroventral, mediodorsal, pulvinar, medial geniculate, and centromedian nuclei were significantly smaller in subjects with late MCI and AD when compared to HC subjects. Furthermore, the mediodorsal, pulvinar, and medial geniculate nuclei were significantly smaller in early MCI when compared to HC subjects. Conclusion: This work highlights nucleus specific atrophy within the thalamus in subjects with early and late MCI and AD. This is consistent with the hypothesis that memory and cognitive changes in AD are mediated by damage to a large-scale integrated neural network that extends beyond the medial temporal lobes.

scholarly journals Functional connectivity of the nucleus basalis of Meynert in Lewy body dementia and Alzheimer’s disease

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Julia Schumacher ◽  
Alan J. Thomas ◽  
Luis R. Peraza ◽  
Michael Firbank ◽  
John T. O’Brien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Functional Connectivity ◽  
Lewy Body ◽  
Cholinergic System ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Lewy Body Dementia ◽  
Occipital Cortex ◽  
Nucleus Basalis ◽  
Nucleus Basalis Of Meynert

ABSTRACT Cholinergic deficits are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Lewy body dementia (LBD). The nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) provides the major source of cortical cholinergic input; studying its functional connectivity might, therefore, provide a tool for probing the cholinergic system and its degeneration in neurodegenerative diseases. Forty-six LBD patients, 29 AD patients, and 31 healthy age-matched controls underwent resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). A seed-based analysis was applied with seeds in the left and right NBM to assess functional connectivity between the NBM and the rest of the brain. We found a shift from anticorrelation in controls to positive correlations in LBD between the right/left NBM and clusters in right/left occipital cortex. Our results indicate that there is an imbalance in functional connectivity between the NBM and primary visual areas in LBD, which provides new insights into alterations within a part of the corticopetal cholinergic system that go beyond structural changes.

scholarly journals Retinal Functional and Structural Changes in the 5xFAD Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremiah K. H. Lim ◽  
Qiao-Xin Li ◽  
Zheng He ◽  
Algis J. Vingrys ◽  
Holly R. Chinnery ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Mouse Model ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
5Xfad Mouse

scholarly journals The association between biomarkers in cerebrospinal fluid and structural changes in the brain in patients with Alzheimer's disease

2013 ◽  
Vol 275 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Li ◽  
T.-Q. Li ◽  
N. Andreasen ◽  
M. K. Wiberg ◽  
E. Westman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Cerebrospinal Fluid ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
The Brain

Comprehensive Analysis of Differential Expression Profiles of Long Non-coding RNAs with Associated Co-expression and Competing Endogenous RNA Networks in the Hippocampus of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian-Jun Zhang ◽  
Ze-Xuan-Zhu ◽  
Guang-Min-Xu ◽  
Peng Su ◽  
Qian Lei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Expression ◽  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Expression Profiles ◽  
Gene Expression Omnibus ◽  
Competing Endogenous Rna ◽  
Pathogenic Genes ◽  
Non Coding Rna ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Trans Regulation

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is still one of the major threats to human health. Although a satisfactory treatment for AD has not yet been discovered, it is necessary to continue to search for novel approaches to deal with this insidious and debilitating disease. Although numerous studies have shown that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) occupy a significant role in a variety of diseases, their roles in AD remain unclear. Objectives: Using data analysis to explore the role of lncRNA in the course of AD, to further our understanding of AD, and to look forward to finding a new breakthrough for the treatment of AD. Methods: We downloaded and screened expression data of the hippocampal regions of patients with AD from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. We generated lncRNA-miRNA-mRNA networks based on the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) hypothesis, and according to gene expression level, we constructed a coding-noncoding co-expression (CNC) network and then executed cis- and trans-regulation analyses. Results: Through comprehensive and systematic analyses, we found that lncRNAs MALAT1, OIP5-AS1, LINC00657, and lnc-NUMB-1 regulated the expression of the key AD pathogenic genes APP, PSEN1, BACE1; and that these lncRNAs may promote the distribution of β-amyloid (Aβ protein) in the brain through exosomes. In addition, lncRNAs were found to adjust viral transcriptional expression, thereby further supporting viral pathogenesis for AD. Conclusions: The lncRNAs MALAT1, OIP5-AS1, LINC00657, and lnc-NUMB-1 that are present in the hippocampus of AD patients exert an important influence on the development of this disease.

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