Get help now — free helplines

You can call any of these for free. You do not need a diagnosis, an appointment, or a crisis to call — questions and plain exhaustion are reasons enough.

  • Alzheimer's Association 24/7 Helpline 800-272-3900 24 hours a day, 365 days a year Free, confidential support and information for people with dementia, caregivers, families and the public. Master's-level clinicians. Also Spanish.
  • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 988 24/7 Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. For anyone in emotional distress or a mental-health crisis, including caregivers.
  • Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) Helpline 866-232-8484 9:00 am - 9:00 pm ET, seven days a week Licensed social workers providing support, info and referrals. Also text message and web chat. Text: 646-586-5283

In a medical emergency, call 911. More numbers, and what each line does, on the help page.

This page is alzhub.org's plain-English summary of a published study, not the paper itself. It is generated from the record we hold for this study, sourced and linked below — check the original for the full text and methods.

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 62 out of 100. Treatments

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Plain-language summary

In animal models of Alzheimer's disease (AD), mechanisms of cortical plasticity such as long-term potentiation (LTP) and long-term depression (LTD) are impaired. In AD patients, LTP-like cortical plasticity is abolished, whereas LTD seems to be preserved. Dopaminergic transmission has been hypothesized as a new player in ruling mechanisms of cortical plasticity in AD. We aimed at investigating whether administration of the dopamine agonist rotigotine (RTG) could modulate cortical plasticity in AD patients, as measured by theta burst stimulation (TBS) protocols of repetitive transcranial stimulation applied over the primary motor cortex. Thirty mild AD patients were tested in three different groups before and after 4 weeks of treatment with RTG, rivastigmine (RVT), or placebo (PLC). Each patient was evaluated for plasticity induction of LTP/LTD-like effects using respectively intermittent TBS (iTBS) or continuous TBS protocols. Short-latency afferent inhibition (SAI) protocol was performed to indirectly assess central cholinergic activity. A group of age-matched healthy controls was recruited for baseline comparisons. Results showed that at baseline, AD patients were characterized by impaired LTP-like cortical plasticity, as assessed by iTBS. These reduced levels of LTP-like cortical plasticity were increased and normalized after RTG administration. No effect was induced by RVT or PLC on LTP. LTD-like cortical plasticity was not modulated in any condition. Cholinergic activity was increased by both RTG and RVT. Our findings reveal that dopamine agonists may restore the altered mechanisms of LTP-like cortical plasticity in AD patients, thus providing novel implications for therapies based on dopaminergic stimulation.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Koch, G., Di Lorenzo, F., Bonnì, S., Giacobbe, V., Bozzali, M., Caltagirone, C., et al. (2014). Dopaminergic modulation of cortical plasticity in Alzheimer's disease patients. Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2014.119

Vancouver

Koch G, Di Lorenzo F, Bonnì S, Giacobbe V, Bozzali M, Caltagirone C, et al. Dopaminergic modulation of cortical plasticity in Alzheimer's disease patients. Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. 2014. doi:10.1038/npp.2014.119. PMID: 24859851.

BibTeX

@article{koch2014-24859851,
  author  = {Koch, G. and Di Lorenzo, F. and Bonnì, S. and Giacobbe, V. and Bozzali, M. and Caltagirone, C. and Martorana, A.},
  title   = {{Dopaminergic modulation of cortical plasticity in Alzheimer's disease patients}},
  journal = {Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology},
  year    = {2014},
  doi     = {10.1038/npp.2014.119},
  pmid    = {24859851},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2014.119}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

Key findings

Study details

How this study scored 62/100
How this study's score is builtJournal tier 7 of 10; Journal's citation record left out, no data; Study design 11 of 12; Strength of evidence 1 of 5; Peer-review validation 10 of 10; How recent 1 of 5; Sample size 0 of 4; Effect reported 0 of 3; Studied in people 3 of 3; Randomized / blinded 1 of 2; Times cited left out, no data; Citations per year left out, no data; Impact for its field and year left out, no data; Cited by studies here left out, no data; Still being cited left out, no data; Senior author's track record left out, no data; Institution's track record left out, no data; Multicenter collaboration left out, no data; Indexed in PubMed 2 of 2; Free to read 0 of 2. 36 of the 58 points it could be judged on, which is 62 of 100. Total 62 of 100.36 of the 58 points we could judge = 62 of 100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a randomized controlled trial. Scored zero for sample size and effect reported because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multicenter collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 36 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 62 out of 100.

ComponentPointsWhy
Journal tier 7 / 10 Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology)
Journal's citation record — / 4 No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score
Study design 11 / 12 A randomized controlled trial (from PubMed type “Randomized Controlled Trial”)
Strength of evidence 1 / 5 Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation 10 / 10 Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent 1 / 5 2014 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size 0 / 4 Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Effect reported 0 / 3 No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people 3 / 3 Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study)
Randomized / blinded 1 / 2 Randomized (as stated in the record)
Times cited — / 7 No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score
Citations per year — / 5 No citation count or no year — left out of this score
Impact for its field and year — / 6 No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score
Cited by studies here — / 6 Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score
Still being cited — / 4 No yearly citation counts — left out of this score
Senior author's track record — / 4 Senior author's record not available — left out of this score
Institution's track record — / 3 No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score
Multicenter collaboration — / 3 Institutions not listed — left out of this score
Indexed in PubMed 2 / 2 Indexed in PubMed (PMID 24859851)
Free to read 0 / 2 Behind a paywall — scores zero
Points 36 / 58 Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 36 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 62 out of 100.
Total 62 / 100 —

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

Free copy unknown: no free-copy check has an answer for this record yet. That does not mean it is paywalled.

Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.

Related studies in Treatments from nearby years

Also tagged “dopaminergic”

3 studies in the library carry the topic tag “dopaminergic”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 3 tagged studies.

Studies sharing this one's topic tags

Similar studies

More on Treatments

See all studies in Treatments →