The Computerized Cognitive Composite (C3) in A4, an Alzheimer’s Disease Secondary Prevention Trial

Background: Computerized cognitive assessments may improve Alzheimer’s disease (AD) secondary prevention trial efficiency and accuracy. However, they require validation against standard outcomes and relevant biomarkers. Objective: To assess the feasibility and validity of the tablet-based Computerized Cognitive Composite (C3). Design: Cross-sectional analysis of cognitive screening data from the A4 study (Anti-Amyloid in Asymptomatic AD). Setting: Multi-center international study. Participants: Clinically normal (CN) older adults (65-85; n=4486). Measurements: Participants underwent florbetapir-Positron Emission Tomography for Aβ+/- classification. They completed the C3 and standard paper and pencil measures included in the Preclinical Alzheimer’s Cognitive Composite (PACC). The C3 combines memory measures sensitive to change over time (Cogstate Brief Battery-One Card Learning) and measures shown to be declining early in AD including pattern separation (Behavioral Pattern Separation Test- Object- Lure Discrimination Index) and associative memory (Face Name Associative Memory Exam- Face-Name Matching). C3 acceptability and completion rates were assessed using qualitative and quantitative methods. C3 performance was explored in relation to Aβ+/- groups (n=1323/3163) and PACC. Results: C3 was feasible for CN older adults to complete. Rates of incomplete or invalid administrations were extremely low, even in the bottom quartile of cognitive performers (PACC). C3 was moderately correlated with PACC (r=0.39). Aβ+ performed worse on C3 compared with Aβ- [unadjusted Cohen’s d=-0.22 (95%CI: -0.31,-0.13) p<0.001] and at a magnitude comparable to the PACC [d=-0.32 (95%CI: -0.41,-0.23) p<0.001]. Better C3 performance was observed in younger, more educated, and female participants. Conclusions: These findings provide support for both the feasibility and validity of C3 and computerized cognitive outcomes more generally in AD secondary prevention trials.

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P2-042: DECIDING TO PARTICIPATE IN AN ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE SECONDARY PREVENTION TRIAL: THE PARTICIPANT PERSPECTIVE

Alzheimer s & Dementia ◽

10.1016/j.jalz.2019.06.1264 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 ◽

pp. P587-P587

Author(s):

Emily A. Largent ◽

Kristin Harkins ◽

Maramawit Abera ◽

Frances Barg ◽

Jason Karlawish

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Secondary Prevention ◽

Prevention Trial ◽

Secondary Prevention Trial

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Do Alzheimer’s Disease Patients Benefit From Prior-Knowledge in Associative Recognition Memory?

Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society ◽

10.1017/s1355617718001212 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 25 (04) ◽

pp. 443-452

Author(s):

Emma Delhaye ◽

Adrien Folville ◽

Isabelle Simoes Loureiro ◽

Laurent Lefebvre ◽

Eric Salmon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Older Adults ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Prior Knowledge ◽

Semantic Memory ◽

Associative Memory ◽

Healthy Aging ◽

Memory Task ◽

Semantic Knowledge ◽

Healthy Older Adults

AbstractObjectives: Although the influence of prior knowledge on associative memory in healthy aging has received great attention, it has never been studied in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This study aimed at assessing whether AD patients could benefit from prior knowledge in associative memory and whether such benefit would be related to the integrity of their semantic memory. Methods: Twenty-one AD patients and 21 healthy older adults took part in an associative memory task using semantically related and unrelated word pairs and were also submitted to an evaluation of their semantic memory. Results: While participants of both groups benefited from semantic relatedness in associative discrimination, related pairs recognition was significantly predicted by semantic memory integrity in healthy older adults only. Conclusions: We suggest that patients benefitted from semantic knowledge to improve their performance in the associative memory task, but that such performance is not related to semantic knowledge integrity evaluation measures because the two tasks differ in the way semantic information is accessed: in an automatic manner for the associative memory task, with automatic processes thought to be relatively preserved in AD, and in a controlled manner for the semantic knowledge evaluation, with controlled processes thought to be impaired in AD. (JINS, 2019, 25, 443–452)

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Spatial Pattern Separation Testing Differentiates Alzheimer’s Disease Biomarker-Positive and Biomarker-Negative Older Adults With Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience ◽

10.3389/fnagi.2021.774600 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 ◽

Author(s):

Martina Laczó ◽

Ondrej Lerch ◽

Lukas Martinkovic ◽

Jana Kalinova ◽

Hana Markova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Older Adults ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Cognitive Impairment ◽

Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Spatial Pattern ◽

Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment ◽

Pattern Separation ◽

Separation Performance ◽

Spatial Pattern Separation

Background: The hippocampus, entorhinal cortex (EC), and basal forebrain (BF) are among the earliest regions affected by Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. They play an essential role in spatial pattern separation, a process critical for accurate discrimination between similar locations.Objective: We examined differences in spatial pattern separation performance between older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) with AD versus those with non-Alzheimer’s pathologic change (non-AD) and interrelations between volumes of the hippocampal, EC subregions and BF nuclei projecting to these subregions (medial septal nuclei and vertical limb of the diagonal band of Broca – Ch1-2 nuclei) with respect to performance.Methods: Hundred and eighteen older adults were recruited from the Czech Brain Aging Study. Participants with AD aMCI (n = 37), non-AD aMCI (n = 26), mild AD dementia (n = 26), and cognitively normal older adults (CN; n = 29) underwent spatial pattern separation testing, cognitive assessment and brain magnetic resonance imaging.Results: The AD aMCI group had less accurate spatial pattern separation performance than the non-AD aMCI (p = 0.039) and CN (p < 0.001) groups. The AD aMCI and non-AD groups did not differ in other cognitive tests. Decreased BF Ch1-2 volume was indirectly associated with worse performance through reduced hippocampal tail volume and reduced posteromedial EC and hippocampal tail or body volumes operating in serial.Conclusion: The study demonstrates that spatial pattern separation testing differentiates AD biomarker positive and negative older adults with aMCI and provides evidence that BF Ch1-2 nuclei influence spatial pattern separation through the posteromedial EC and the posterior hippocampus.

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Cognitive control constrains memory attributions

Behavioral and Brain Sciences ◽

10.1017/s0140525x19001869 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 42 ◽

Author(s):

Colleen M. Kelley ◽

Larry L. Jacoby

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Older Adults ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Traumatic Brain Injury ◽

Brain Injury ◽

Cognitive Control

Abstract Cognitive control constrains retrieval processing and so restricts what comes to mind as input to the attribution system. We review evidence that older adults, patients with Alzheimer's disease, and people with traumatic brain injury exert less cognitive control during retrieval, and so are susceptible to memory misattributions in the form of dramatic levels of false remembering.

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Partner-Specific Communication Deficits in Individuals With Alzheimer's Disease

American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology ◽

10.1044/2020_ajslp-19-00094 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Eun Jin Paek ◽

Si On Yoon

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Older Adults ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Referential Communication ◽

Sorting Task ◽

Audience Design ◽

Healthy Older Adults ◽

Communication Task ◽

Design Skills ◽

Referential Expressions

Purpose Speakers adjust referential expressions to the listeners' knowledge while communicating, a phenomenon called “audience design.” While individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) show difficulties in discourse production, it is unclear whether they exhibit preserved partner-specific audience design. The current study examined if individuals with AD demonstrate partner-specific audience design skills. Method Ten adults with mild-to-moderate AD and 12 healthy older adults performed a referential communication task with two experimenters (E1 and E2). At first, E1 and participants completed an image-sorting task, allowing them to establish shared labels. Then, during testing, both experimenters were present in the room, and participants described images to either E1 or E2 (randomly alternating). Analyses focused on the number of words participants used to describe each image and whether they reused shared labels. Results During testing, participants in both groups produced shorter descriptions when describing familiar images versus new images, demonstrating their ability to learn novel knowledge. When they described familiar images, healthy older adults modified their expressions depending on the current partner's knowledge, producing shorter expressions and more established labels for the knowledgeable partner (E1) versus the naïve partner (E2), but individuals with AD were less likely to do so. Conclusions The current study revealed that both individuals with AD and the control participants were able to acquire novel knowledge, but individuals with AD tended not to flexibly adjust expressions depending on the partner's knowledge state. Conversational inefficiency and difficulties observed in AD may, in part, stem from disrupted audience design skills.

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Auditory Dysfunction in Alzheimer's Disease

Perspectives on Gerontology ◽

10.1044/gero15.1.4 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 4-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sridhar Krishnamurti

Keyword(s):

Alzheimer’S Disease ◽

Older Adults ◽

Alzheimer's Disease ◽

Health Care ◽

Care Setting ◽

Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽

Disease Process ◽

Clinical Protocols ◽

Speech Language Pathologist ◽

Auditory Dysfunction

Alzheimer's disease is neurodegenerative disorder which affects a growing number of older adults every year. With an understanding of auditory dysfunction in Alzheimer's disease, the speech-language pathologist working in the health care setting can provide better service to these individuals. The pathophysiology of the disease process in Alzheimer's disease increases the likelihood of specific types of auditory deficits as opposed to others. This article will discuss the auditory deficits in Alzheimer's disease, their implications, and the value of clinical protocols for individuals with this disease.

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