Clinical trial NCT01615666: A Composite MR Neuroimaging Marker for Alzheimer's Disease
Official title: A Composite MR Neuroimaging Marker for Alzheimer's Disease
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: WITHDRAWN
Conditions: Alzheimer's Disease
Mild Cognitive Impairment
Frontotemporal Dementia
Keywords: Alzheimer's disease
Mild Cognitive Impairment
Frontotemporal dementia
fMRI
functional neuroimaging
Memory
Lead sponsor: Medical College of Wisconsin
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute on Aging (NIA)
First posted: 2012-06-08
Enrollment: 0
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 50
Maximum age (years): 90
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: CASE_CONTROL
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: * Alzheimer's, non-Alzheimer's dementia, and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) participants recruited from the Medical College of Wisconsin/Froedtert Hospital Memory Disorders Clinic
* MCI and healthy volunteers recruited from the community

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to use a functional MRI (fMRI) index to compare the brain activity of healthy volunteers to that of people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease. The ultimate goal is to develop an early diagnostic tool for Alzheimer's disease.

The study hypotheses are:

1. The fMRI index will differentiate between Alzheimer's disease, non-Alzheimer's dementia, and healthy volunteers;
2. The fMRI index will distinguish participants with MCI who convert to Alzheimer's disease from those who convert to a non-Alzheimer's dementia and those who remain stable;
3. MCI participants with a lower fMRI index at baseline who convert will progress to Alzheimer's sooner than those with a higher fMRI index, and MCI participants with a faster rate of fMRI index decline who convert will have an earlier onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Detailed description: The onset of Alzheimer's disease is insidious and the boundary between normal aging and Alzheimer's disease is blurred. In order to prevent and treat Alzheimer's disease, the investigators must be able to mark its preclinical stage, before brain damage becomes irreversible. There is a substantial body of research dealing with predictive markers of Alzheimer's disease in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Despite these advances, however, researchers have not had enough evidence to recommend specific techniques that mark preclinical Alzheimer's disease. This new functional MRI (fMRI) index may fill this gap.

Participants will have two visits, one for memory testing and neurological examination, and one for an MRI scan. Each visit will take approximately 1½ hours. For volunteers who wish to do so, all study procedures may be completed in a single visit. Participants with MCI will be followed annually.

The investigators are currently enrolling healthy volunteers, as well as individuals with MCI (memory loss that does not significantly affect normal daily activities), Alzheimer's disease, and frontotemporal dementia (includes primary progressive aphasia).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* 60 years of age or older (50 years of age or older for frontotemporal dementia patients)
* Normal memory, mild cognitive impairment (memory loss that does not significantly affect normal daily activities), or clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or frontotemporal dementia (includes primary progressive aphasia)
* Right-handed
* General good physical health

Exclusion Criteria:

* History of stroke or neurological disease (other than Alzheimer's disease or frontotemporal dementia)
* Seizures or head injury with loss of consciousness within the last five years
* Ferrous (magnetic) or electronic implants (due to the magnet in the MRI scanner)
* Claustrophobia

Primary outcomes:
measure: To determine the sensitivity and specificity of the MRN Index as an AD biomarker.
timeFrame: 5 years
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Milwaukee
country: United States
facility: Medical College of Wisconsin/Froedtert Hospital
state: Wisconsin
Study officials:
affiliation: Medical College of Wisconsin
name: Shi-Jiang Li, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: