bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The DEMON Network: The first UK network for deep dementia phenotyping
Authors: Ranson Janice M , James Charlotte , Routledge Carol , Everson Richard , Bauermeister Sarah D , Llewellyn David J 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundCollaborative interdisciplinary research will be key to advances in dementia prevention, identification and treatment. We established the DEMON Network to revolutionise dementia research by bringing innovators together to harness the power of data science and artificial intelligence with funding from Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Alan Turing Institute. Membership is free, and open to data scientists, dementia researchers, clinicians and industry partners. Benefits include a framework for national collaboration, research initiatives and networking events.MethodThe DEMON Network Steering Committee includes Profs David Llewellyn and Richard Everson (both University of Exeter and Alan Turing Institute), Dr Carol Routledge (Alzheimer’s Research UK) and Dr Sarah Bauermeister (University of Oxford). Membership is coordinated using an online marketing platform. Recruitment is ongoing and has included a press release, a National Institute of Health Research Dementia Researcher podcast, Twitter (@DEMONNetworkUK) and partner organisations such as Dementias Platform UK. A website was developed to feature Network opportunities and member profiles (www.demondementia.com). A Clinical Advisory Panel was established to provide clinical support, and recruitment to a Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) Group is underway.ResultMembership on 20th January 2020 comprised 180 individuals including 19 Clinical Advisory Panellists. 87 members (48%) have expertise in data science, 120 (67%) in dementia research, 48 (27%) clinical, and 16 (9%) in industry. 141 members (78%) are interested in networking events, 136 (76%) in seminars and workshops, 117 (65%) in skills exchange, and 101 (56%) in training and career development opportunities. 17 Regional Leads were recruited through Alzheimer’s Research UK Network Centres to support regional activities, and 4 National Theme Leads (Data Science, Clinical and Early Career Development) were recruited to facilitate strategy development in priority areas. Initial activity includes three datathons run in collaboration with Medical Research Council Dementias Platform UK (MRC DPUK).ConclusionThe DEMON Network has successfully launched and activities are underway reflecting member preferences. A National Strategy Workshop will be convened in 2020. Those interested can join the Network via the website.
Physical activity reduces amyloid‐induced neurodegeneration in non‐demented older adults
Authors: Sohn Bo Kyung , Yi Dahyun , Byun Min Soo , Jeon So Yeon , Lee Jun Ho , Lee Dong Woo , Lee Jun‐Young , Kim Yu Kyeong , Sohn Chul‐Ho , Lee Dong Young 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundBoth physical activity (PA) and cognitive activity (CA) are known to reduce the risk of Alzheimer`s disease (AD) and related cognitive decline. However, pathophysiological mechanism underlying their protective effects for AD is still poorly understood. We aimed to investigate the moderation effects of current PA and CA on the relationship between amyloid‐beta (Aβ) and AD‐signature neurodegeneration in non‐demented older adults. Both physical activity (PA) and cognitive activity (CA) are known to reduce the risk of Alzheimer`s disease (AD) and related cognitive decline. However, pathophysiological mechanism underlying their protective effects for AD is still poorly understood. We aimed to investigate the moderation effects of current PA and CA on the relationship between amyloid‐beta (Aβ) and AD‐signature neurodegeneration in non‐demented older adults.MethodTwo‐hundred sixty non‐demented (195 cognitively normal and 65 mild cognitive impairment) participants from the Korean Brain Aging Study for Early diagnosis and prediction of Alzheimer’s disease (KBASE) were included in this analysis. All participants underwent comprehensive clinical and neuropsychological assessment, [11C]Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography (PET), [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET, and magnetic resonance imaging. Using the multi‐modal brain imaging data, in vivo AD pathologies including Aβ deposition, AD‐signature region cerebral glucose metabolism (AD‐CM), and AD‐signature region cortical thickness (AD‐CT) were quantified. Current PA and CA were assessed using well‐validated questionnaires. General linear model analysis was conducted including AD‐CM (or AD‐CT) as a dependent variable and Aβ deposition, PA, CA, Aβ x PA interaction term, and Aβ x CA interaction term as independent variables.ResultWe found significant Aβ x PA interaction effect on both AD‐CM and AD‐CT. Subgroup analyses showed that the inverse association between Aβ and AD‐CM (or AD‐CT) was weaker (i.e., smaller effect size) in higher PA group compared to that in lower PA group. In contrast, Aβ x CA interaction effect was not observed on neither AD‐CM nor AD‐CT.ConclusionThe findings suggest that current PA reduce AD‐type regional neurodegeneration induced by Aβ deposition, regardless of CA, in non‐demented older adults. When considered with PA, however, current CA appear not have any moderation effect on the relationship of Aβ deposition with the neurodegenerative change.
Decreased plasma clusterin is associated with increased cardiorespiratory fitness as a response to aerobic exercise in older adults with Alzheimer's disease in the FIT‐AD Trial
Authors: Li Danni , Yu Fang , Seidl Claudia 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundA recent study suggests that plasma clusterin increases with exercise and enhances neurogenesis and reduces neuroinflammation in sedentary mice. The same study also reports a positive association between changes in plasma clusterin and walking distance as response to exercise in older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. The objective of this study is to examine whether aerobic exercise increases plasma clusterin and the correlations between changes in plasma clusterin and cardiorespiratory fitness as response to aerobic exercise in older adults with Alzheimer's disease (AD) in the FIT‐AD trial.MethodsThe FIT‐AD Trial is a Phase II randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of a 6‐month, individualized, moderate‐intensity cycling intervention on cognition in community‐dwelling older adults with mild‐to‐moderate AD. The FIT‐AD subjects were randomly assigned on a 2:1 ratio to cycling and stretching (control) for six months. Fasting blood plasma samples were collected at baseline (n=26), 3 and 6 months. Plasma clusterin concentration was measured by an ELISA kit (R&D Systems, Minneapolis, MN). Symptom‐limited peak cycle‐ergometer test was used to assess VO2peak, a gold‐standard measure of cardiorespiratory fitness. Student t's test was used to examine changes in plasma clusterin concentrations between cycling and stretching groups. Linear regression was used to correlate changes in plasma clusterin concentration with changes in VO2peak.Results3‐ or 6‐ month changes in plasma clusterin concentrations did not significantly differ between groups However, correlations between 3‐month changes in plasma clusterin (µg/mL) and 3‐ or 6‐month changes in VO2peak (L/min) were significant regardless group assignment (beta‐coefficients [standard error (SE)]: ‐ 4.2×10‐2 [1.8×10‐2] L/min change in VO2peak per µg/mL change in plasma clusterin and ‐ 4.0×10‐2 [1.4×10‐2], respectively), and in cycling group only (‐ 4.8×10‐2 [1.6×10‐2] and ‐ 3.9×10‐2 [0.9×10‐2], respectively), but not in the stretching (control) group.ConclusionThis preliminary study does not support the previous findings. Instead, it reports a significant negative correlation between 3‐month change in plasma clusterin concentration and 3‐ or 6‐ months change in VO2peak as response to aerobic exercise with in older adults with AD. Future studies are needed to validate the study findings.
APOE‐stratified, genome‐wide, gene‐based analysis of episodic memory trajectories in a multi‐ethnic sample of 24,769 elderly
Authors: Gao Yizhe , Vardarajan Badri N. , Reyes‐Dumeyer Dolly , Sariya Sanjeev , Mayeux Richard , Tosto Giuseppe , Barral Sandra 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundUnderstanding genetic modulation of episodic memory will yield insight into the biological mechanisms underlying normal cognitive aging and dementia. Genetic studies based on longitudinal measures of episodic memory are scarce, predominantly focused on candidate genes, and have interrogated common genetic variation. We aimed to identify common and rare genetic variation that may be responsible for uncharacterized genetic risk underlying individual differences in longitudinal performance on memory.MethodA sample of 24,769 elderly individuals was ascertained from eight independent cohorts (ADGC_NACC, NIA‐LOAD, ROSMAP, WHICAP, LLFS, CHAP, ADNI and UK Biobank). Data on study participants included socio‐demographic variables, longitudinal scores on episodic memory (2 to 15 follow‐up visits), clinical diagnosis of cognitive impairment and genome‐wide imputed genotyped data using the haplotype reference consortium for accurate imputation of low‐frequency genetic variants. The Latent Class Mixed Model was used to derive episodic memory trajectories within each of the study cohorts. The slope of residualized episodic memory scores was used as outcome in an APOE stratified (non‐APOE stratified, APOE_ε4 and APOE_nonε4 sub‐samples) genome‐wide gene‐based analyses. Common (minimum allele frequency, MAF, between 5%‐10%), rare (1% < MAF ≤ 5%) and ultra‐rare variants (≤1% MAF) were analyzed. Association results from each study cohort within each sub‐sample were meta‐analyzed.ResultConsistent with previous studies, the majority of the study participants maintain their memory performance over time (ranging from 51% to 98%). The strongest association signal for the episodic memory trajectories (p = 4.8 × 10−8) was achieved at chromosomal region 6p22 among in the APOE_nonε4 sub‐sample. Meta‐analysis results in the non‐APOE stratified and APOE_ε4 sub‐samples also yielded several chromosomal regions associated with memory performance over time, although significance level was diminished (p∼ 10−6).ConclusionTo our knowledge, this is the largest gene‐based GWAS meta‐analysis of high quality imputed common, rare and ultra‐rare variants influence on episodic memory performance over time. Identifying genes associated with progression of episodic memory performance over time in older adulthood provides the possibility of identifying at‐risk population subgroups that can benefit from possible interventions to enhance cognitive function.
Financial awareness is associated with metamemory in cognitively healthy adults
Authors: Sunderaraman Preeti , Chapman Silvia , Barker Megan S , Cosentino Stephanie 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundMetamemory (i.e., awareness of one’s memory abilities) degrades in individuals with dementia and has been found to be associated with poorer everyday outcomes and decision making. Decades of research have established how to measure and detect metamemory changes that may accompany aging or neurologic disease. In contrast, relatively little is known about how to assess the integrity of financial awareness (i.e., awareness of one’s financial abilities), an important construct with tremendous practical implications for avoiding financial loss in vulnerable older adults. The goal of the current study was to apply established metacognitive frameworks in order to examine financial awareness.MethodData was collected prospectively using a comprehensive battery of tests examining financial and cognitive abilities. Community dwelling individuals (n=93) with mean age=59 years (SD=15.12); mean education=15.70 (SD=2.39); 60% female were recruited. Financial Decision Making was measured using the Financial Competence Assessment Inventory (FCAI). Confidence ratings were integrated into the FCAI in order to derive a metric of financial awareness. Participants rated their confidence on a 3‐point scale following each item. Memory‐awareness was evaluated using an established 20‐item metamemory task. Awareness on each measure was calculated using a calibration score, wherein average performance across the whole test was subtracted from average confidence, to determine the extent to which individuals were over‐ or under‐confident.ResultFinancial awareness was not associated with age, education or gender. Financial awareness was inversely associated with financial decision making (r = ‐0.38, p < .001), and positively correlated with metamemory (r = 0.36, p < .001).ConclusionMirroring findings from metamemory studies, overconfidence in financial decision making was associated with lower accuracy on this task in healthy adults. Moreover, financial awareness and metamemory were related, suggesting that this construct taps into metacognitive abilities more broadly. Our findings provide preliminary evidence for how to measure financial awareness in both clinical and research contexts.
Phenotype differences between corticobasal syndrome and progressive supranuclear palsy with and without Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers
Authors: Vasilevskaya Anna , Taghdiri Foad , Multani Namita , Anor Cassandra Jessica , Misquitta Karen , Houle Sylvain , Burke Charles , Lang Anthony , Fox Susan , Slow Elizabeth , Rusjan Pablo , Tartaglia Carmela 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundProgressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal syndrome (CBS) are usually caused by a tauopathy. Comorbid Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology can be seen in PSP and is causative in a number of CBS cases. The contribution of different pathologies to the phenotypes is poorly characterized. Our aim was to compare PSP/CBS without AD biomarker (CBS/PSP‐non‐AD) to CBS/PSP with AD biomarkers (CBS/PSP‐AD).MethodTwenty‐four patients [11 males, 13 females; age (68.46±7.23)] with a diagnosis of PSP or CBS underwent MRI and PET imaging with tau specific [18F]‐AV1451 tracer as well as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis. PSP rating scale (PSPRS) and unified Parkinson’s disease rating scale (UPDRS) motor exam were used to assess for motor disturbances. Cognitive testing was completed. Patients were divided into AD and non‐AD based on CSF or PET Tau imaging. Seventeen patients were negative for AD biomarkers (6 CBS, 11 PSP)] while7 tested positive [diagnoses (6 CBS‐AD, 1 PSP‐AD)].ResultThe CBS/PSP‐non‐AD group [age (70.18±6.65)] was significantly older (p=0.028) than the CBS/PSP‐AD group [age (64.29±7.32)]. There were no differences between the groups in terms of gender, education, or disease duration. The CBS/PSP‐non‐AD group compared to the CBS/PSP‐AD group had significantly lower PET [18F]‐AV1451 SUVR values in AD‐specific brain regions of hippocampus [1.20±0.28 vs. 1.80±0.39; p=0.002] and inferior parietal area [1.49±0.56 vs. 3.26±1.53; p=0.001]. The CBS/PSP‐non‐AD group compared to the CBS/PSP‐AD group scored significantly higher on PSPRS [40.76±18.61 vs. 18.29±6.65; respectively, p=0.004] and UPDRS motor exam [36.06±21.49 vs. 15.71±8.34; respectively, p=0.045]. Finally, CBS/PSP‐non‐AD group compared to the CBS/PSP‐AD group scored significantly higher scores on digit span forward [5.76±1.52 vs. 3.86±1.77; p=0.025]. Two participants refused to complete the sentence repetition task but CBS/PSP‐non‐AD group (N=15) scored significantly higher on sentence repetition compared to the CBS/PSP‐AD group (N=7) [4.13±1.46 vs. 2.43±1.90; p=0.031].ConclusionThe CBS/PSP‐non‐AD group had higher motor signs but had better working memory and sentence repetition than the CBS/PSP‐AD group despite being older. These results show that the presence of AD biomarkers has an effect on CBS and PSP phenotypes. This has implications for monitoring progression and response to treatment.
Alcohol use patterns and cognitive impairment: A cross‐country comparison
Authors: Funk‐White Makaya , Moore Alison A. , McEvoy Linda K. , Bondi Mark W. , Bergstrom Jaclyn , Chen Yen‐Ching , Chen Jen‐Hau , Kaufmann Christopher N. 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundAlcohol use is shown to be a risk and protective factor for cognitive impairment. Alcohol use patterns differ across cultures; it is possible inconsistent findings may be partially explained by different drinking patterns across countries. We analyzed datasets from international studies housed in the Global Alzheimer’s Association Interactive Network to examine the association between alcohol use and cognitive performance.MethodWe used baseline data from two countries: a) the United States (National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center Uniform Dataset; NACC), and b) Taiwan (Taiwan Initiative for Geriatric Epidemiological Research; TIGER), focusing on participants age 65+ years, not currently taking Alzheimer’s disease medications, and who had complete data for cognitive performance (NACC: N=4,443; TIGER: N=605). In both studies, participants self‐reported alcohol use and completed a cognitive battery. We characterized alcohol use patterns by recent use (yes vs. no), and frequency (never, <once a week, 1‐4 times/week, daily/almost daily), and focused on Trail Making A and B and Verbal Fluency tests. Mixed effects models assessed the relationship between alcohol use and cognitive performance including the study (NACC vs. TIGER) as a random effect, and controlling for participant age, sex, and education in main effects. We also tested interactions for associations between studies.ResultTwo‐thirds of the combined sample reported alcohol use (18% <once a week, 25% 1‐4 times/week, and 19% daily/almost daily). In mixed effects models, those reporting recent alcohol use showed better cognitive performance than those reporting no use (Trail Making A: 46.4 [SD=10.1] vs. 51.7 [SD=10.1]; Trail Making B: 122.1 [SD=18.0] vs. 144.6 [SD=18.0]; Verbal Fluency: 29.7 [SD=3.4] vs. 27.3 [SD=3.4]; all p’s<0.001), and greater frequency was associated with better cognitive performance (all p’s<0.001). There were differences across studies in the association between alcohol use and Trail Making B (interaction p=0.003) and Verbal Fluency (interaction p=0.007); driven by positive associations observed within the NACC dataset. No interactions by study were observed for drinking frequency with cognition.ConclusionBoth recent and more frequent alcohol use were associated with better cognitive performance; although this association appeared more prominently in the US vs. Taiwan. Identification of specific cultural factors driving associations observed will be explored.
NeMO analytics‐AD: The neuroscience multi‐omic visualization and analysis platform, now extended to support Alzheimer’s disease
Authors: Chrysostomou Elena , Prater Katherine E. , Song Yang , Orvis Joshua , Kancherla Jayaram , Herb Brian , Ament Seth , Bravo Hector C. , Mahurkar Anup A. , White Owen , Garden Gwenn A. , Hertzano Ronna 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundRecent years have resulted in tremendous progress in understanding Alzheimer’s disease via the generation and analysis of multi‐omic data. In addition, the BRAIN initiative has been mapping gene expression in the normal brain, which is important in understanding disease. However, a barrier for the broad usage of these data has been limited access and the requirement for informatics support to allow biologists not trained in programming to meaningfully access this wealth of information.MethodTo address this challenge, we reveal, for the first time, an expansion of the Neuroscience Multi‐Omic (NeMO) Analysis and Visualization platform (NeMO Analytics, nemoanalytics.org) to include a focus on Alzheimer’s Disease. NeMO Analytics gene expression tools are powered by gEAR (umgear.org) and consists of six components: (i) An expression browser, which allows the visualization of gene expression across datasets; (ii) A comparator tool for basic comparison of all of the genes in two groups; (iii) An elaborate single cell workbench; (iv) A dataset uploader, which allows seamless integration with the NeMO Archive data portal for data import, as well as import of user‐supplied datasets in a market exchange format (MEX); (v) A dataset curator that allows the user to define visualization preferences (e.g., data presentation as bar, line, x‐y scatter, violin plot, tSNE, or SVG); and (vi) A dataset manager, which allows the selection of groups of datasets to visualize side‐by‐side and manage dataset sharing. NeMO Analytics also allows the visualization of epigenetic data via integration of the Epiviz tool (https://epiviz.github.io/).ResultsNeMO ‐AD provide biologists with meaningful access to a variety of datasets relevant to Alzheimer’s research with data from different species, including human at different stages of the disease. Users can also create profiles (collections of datasets for visualization side‐by‐side) from additional data originating from the BRAIN initiative and deposited in the NeMO Archive or NeMO Analytics.ConclusionThe NeMO‐AD offers biologist unprecedented meaningful access to multi‐omic data relevant to Alzheimer’s disease. We propose that broad usage of this platform to share and disseminate data will result in a unique and meaningful repository for biologists studying Alzheimer’s disease.
People with dementia experiencing presence in mixed reality technologies
Authors: Astell Arlene J , Fels Deborah , Desai Shital 
Published: December 2020

AbstractBackgroundMixed Reality Technologies (MRTs) spanning the physical‐virtual continuum offer possibilities for machine‐based prompting to support people with dementia. The effectiveness of MRTs requires users to experience ‘presence’ – the feeling of being there and the illusion of non‐ mediation by the technology ‐ which has not been explored in dementia.MethodParticipants with mild to moderate dementia aged between 63‐90 years of age played games on two MRTs: Tangram on Osmo (Augmented Virtuality) and Young Conker on Hololens (Augmented Reality) in separate sessions to explore their experience of presence and look at their responses to prompts in the games. The sessions were video‐recorded for analysis with Noldus Observer XT 14.1 to identify themes relating to presence and responses to prompts.ResultThree themes relating to the experience of presence were identified: 1. Affordances and perceptual elements, 2. Degree of realism and 3. Social element. Participants responded differently to visual and verbal prompts in the games.ConclusionPeople with dementia experience presence in MRTs that is mediated by the clues in the visual auditory and material properties of the physical and virtual elements of the games. These findings have design implications for future development of MRTs to support people with dementia.