Current Alzheimer Research - Volume 15, Issue 2, 2018

Objective: This study presents a novel approach for early detection of cognitive impairment in the elderly. The approach incorporates the use of speech sound analysis, multivariate statistics, and data-mining techniques. We have developed a speech prosody-based cognitive impairment rating (SPCIR) that can distinguish between cognitively normal controls and elderly people with mild Alzheimer's disease (mAD) or mild c Read More

Background: Recent studies have identified the correlation between dementia and certain vocal features, such as voice and speech changes. Vocal features may act as early markers of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Despite being present in non-pathological senescence and Mild Cognitive Impairment, especially in its amnesic subtype (aMCI), these voice- and speech-related symptoms are the first signs of AD. The purpose Read More

Background: Various types of dementia and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) are manifested as irregularities in human speech and language, which have proven to be strong predictors for the disease presence and progress ion. Therefore, automatic speech analytics provided by a mobile application may be a useful tool in providing additional indicators for assessment and detection of early stage dementia and MCI. Metho Read More

Background: Even today the reliable diagnosis of the prodromal stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains a great challenge. Our research focuses on the earliest detectable indicators of cognitive decline in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Since the presence of language impairment has been reported even in the mild stage of AD, the aim of this study is to develop a sensitive neuropsychological screening method whi Read More

Objective: Nowadays proper detection of cognitive impairment has become a challenge for the scientific community. Alzheimer's Disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia, has a high prevalence that is increasing at a fast pace towards epidemic level. In the not-so-distant future this fact could have a dramatic social and economic impact. In this scenario, an early and accurate diagnosis of AD could help to decrease it Read More

Background: Sensorimotor integration mechanisms can be affected by many factors, among which are those involving neuromuscular disorders. Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by well-known motor symptoms, among which lately have been included motor speech deficits. Measurement of the acoustic startle reflex (ASR) and its modulations (prepulse inhibition and prepulse facilitation, PPI and PPF respectiv Read More

Objective: Prosody, an important aspect of spoken language, is defined as the emphasis placed on certain syllables, changes in tempo or timing, and variance in pitch and intonation. Most studies investigating expression and comprehension of prosody have focused primarily on emotional prosody and less extensively on supralexical prosody. The distinction is indeed important, as the latter conveys information such as inter Read More

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is currently incurable and a majority of investigational drugs have failed clinical trials. One explanation for this failure may be the invalidity of hypotheses focusing on amyloid to explain AD pathogenesis. Recently, hypotheses which are centered on synaptic and metabolic dysfunction are increasingly implicated in AD. Objective: Evaluate AD hypotheses by comparing neurotransmitte Read More

Background: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by extracellular amyloid plaque and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. Studies have shown that neurons are able to re-enter the cell cycle, but not enough to enable full replication. This leads to cell death and consequent neurodegeneration. Objective: This study aimed to characterize the expression of the MAPT gene and CDK5 (the gene invol Read More

Background: Psychosis is a common phenomenon in Alzheimer's disease (AD). The APOE ε4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for the development of AD, but its association with psychosis remains unclear. Objective: We investigated the associations between psychosis, subdivided into delusions and hallucinations, as well as APOE ε4 allele on cognitive and functional outcomes. Secondarily, we investigated the associ Read More

Background: The findings from previous studies exploring the association between BMI and cognitive function in the elderly are conflicting. The purpose of the present study is twofold; to verify the association between BMI and cognitive functions and examine whether this association is impacted by height, when adjusted for possible covariates. Methods: The data for this study, consisted of 2287 older adults aged 60 yea Read More