Each study has a usefulness score out of 100 (rubric version 4.0). Tap a score to see what makes it up.
Download bibliography of all 8,032 studies, highest score first: BibTeX (.bib) · RIS (.ris)
Highest usefulness score first. Studies without a score come last.
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48/100
Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a focal clinical syndrome characterised by profound changes in personality and social conduct and associated with circumscribed degeneration of the prefrontal and anterior temporal cortex.
Why it matters
This review describes frontotemporal dementia as a focal clinical syndrome with circumscribed degeneration of the prefrontal and anterior temporal cortex and notes that many cases show no apparent tau abnormality. It is a review, not a treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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The new MRI rating scale for WMH in cholinergic pathways is reliable and shows stronger correlations with cognitive performance than a general WMH rating scale in AD with WMH.
Why it matters
A new rating scale for white matter hyperintensities within cholinergic pathways was reliable and was associated with impaired performance on the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale, accounting for 12% of the variance. A similar model was not significant for general white matter hyperintensity scores.
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A profile of equal impairment on tests of executive control and memory along with radiologic evidence involving about one-fourth of the cerebral white matter as measured by the Leukoaraiosis Scale may be sufficient for a diagnosis of subcortical vascular dementia.
Why it matters
Neuropsychological measures accounted for 60.7% of the variance in white matter abnormality severity, with executive and visuoconstructive test performance contributing most. Only patients with mild white matter abnormalities showed greater impairment on memory and language tests than on executive control and visuoconstructive tests.
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Understanding variability in conceptions of dementia in multiethnic populations is important to improve care and guide research.
Why it matters
In a multiethnic sample of family dementia caregivers, 54% held explanatory models combining folk and biomedical elements, and minority caregivers were more likely to do so. This describes how families understand dementia and may help guide care and research, but it does not treat, cure, or prevent the disease.
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Little is known about the relative benefits of cognitively stimulating activities at different points in the lifespan.
Why it matters
In 576 older persons without dementia, past cognitive activity and resources were positively correlated with current cognitive activity and function, though the association with cognitive function was reduced after controlling for other factors. This is an observational study and does not show that cognitive activity prevents Alzheimer's disease.
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Cerebral small-vessel disease is common in older people and may contribute to the development of dementia.
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Although internal factors explain most about the poor nutritional status of aged residents in nursing homes, the factors related to nutritional care need further investigation to clarify their role in maintaining the nutritional status of aged residents.
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Why it matters
Reports measures of brain structure and infarction in the Framingham Heart Study, aimed at establishing what is normal.
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Our aim was to investigate the long-term prognosis of delirium in the frailest elderly, and to clarify whether delirium is just a marker of the underlying severe disease.
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This paper reviews current knowledge on sleep problems, sleep architecture changes and quantitative EEG alteration brought on by various neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), Parkinson's disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), multiple system atrophy MSA, Huntington's disease and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, in comparison to normal aging.
Why it matters
This review describes how sleep problems, changes in sleep architecture, and quantitative EEG changes occur in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases compared with normal aging. It suggests that studying sleep and EEG may help understand these diseases and assist with diagnosis, but it does not report any treatment or cure.
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Diabetic patients are at increased risk for stroke, but little is known about the presence of other brain lesions.
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48/100
Individuals over 50 years of age comprise 11% of AIDS cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Why it matters
Existing data suggest, but have not conclusively shown, that older HIV-positive individuals may have higher rates of HIV-associated dementia than younger ones. Factors that may explain this susceptibility include interactions with other dementias, vascular co-pathology, age-related immune changes, and reduced compensatory ability of the aging brain.
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Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), an intermediate state between normal aging and dementia, is characterized by acquired cognitive deficits, without significant decline in functional activities of daily living.
Why it matters
This article discusses the need for uniform methods to diagnose mild cognitive impairment and to measure changes in cognition and function, noting that neuroimaging and genetic testing can help identify people at increased risk of dementia. It is about research methodology and does not report any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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As public awareness of Alzheimer's disease increases, more people are asking for help and advice about memory problems.
Why it matters
This article describes amnestic mild cognitive impairment as a state in which memory loss is not severe enough to merit a dementia diagnosis, and notes that this group is at high risk of developing dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease. It also reports that a third of people with no clinical evidence of dementia had histopathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease, and it offers no treatment or cure.
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This is the first study that focuses on insomnia in stroke patients.
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48/100
Data point to a role for midlife vascular risk factors in the development of MCI in late life.
Why it matters
Among 1,449 Finnish people reexamined at ages 65 to 79 after an average of 21 years, 6.1% met criteria for mild cognitive impairment. Elevated cholesterol in midlife was a significant risk factor for mild cognitive impairment in late life, and the effect of systolic blood pressure approached significance.
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Proton MR spectroscopy (MRS) studies have found both decreased N-acetylaspartate (NAA) and increased myo-inositol in the occipital, temporal, parietal, and frontal regions of patients with AD, even at the early stages of the disease.
Why it matters
This review describes magnetic resonance spectroscopy findings such as decreased NAA and increased myo-inositol in Alzheimer's disease, even at early stages. It discusses the technique's promise for diagnosis and monitoring treatment, but reports no treatment or cure.
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Despite the difference in diagnostic indication for tube-feeding, the substitute decision-making process was seriously limited at both sites by poor implementation of the principle of substituted judgement, a need for broader advance directives, and improved transfer of knowledge between clinicians and decision-makers.
Why it matters
This survey compared tube-feeding decisions for cognitively impaired older patients in US and Canadian care settings, finding that more patients in Boston had feeding tubes inserted because of degenerative dementia. It concerns decision-making about feeding tubes, not the treatment, cure, or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
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Memory declined more rapidly in AD patients with higher educational and occupational attainment.
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Design identification of relevant items, pre-testing of items and refinement of administrative procedures and scoring in four successive groups of 30 subjects each, pilot testing in a group of 100 subjects comparable to those for whom the measure is intended, administration to a representative sample of 387 people aged 55 and older, and assessment of the reliability of the final measure.
Why it matters
This paper describes the development of a brief activities of daily living scale for screening dementia in illiterate rural older people in India, with good reliability and validity. It is a measurement tool and does not test a treatment, cure or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
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Sleep disruption and other circadian rhythm disturbances are frequently seen in dementia patients.
Why it matters
In brain tissue from people who had severe dementia, the suprachiasmatic nucleus showed loss of vasopressin and neurotensin neurons and increased astrocyte staining, though damage there was less severe than in other brain regions. This describes brain changes associated with dementia and does not offer a treatment, cure, or prevention.
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These results demonstrate that use of adult day care by caregivers of dementia patients results in lower levels of caregiving-related stress and better psychological well-being when compared to that of controls.
Why it matters
This study found that family caregivers who used adult day care had lower levels of caregiving-related stress and better psychological well-being than those who did not. It addresses caregiver support and does not test a treatment for Alzheimer's disease itself.
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48/100
Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementias are common degenerative disorders in the elderly.
Why it matters
This 1998 review describes how caring for a family member with Alzheimer's or another dementia — usually as an older spouse at home — is linked to significant psychological and physical strain, though caregivers differ widely in how well they adapt. It reports that the data "suggest" caregiver factors may influence whether the patient moves to institutional care, and that patients living with highly distressed caregivers may show more agitation and behaviour problems. It offers physicians a model for assessing caregivers and referring them to support; it is not a treatment for the disease and does not test whether the model works.
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Prevalence, 3-year incidence, and types of dementia are comparable in Black and White elderly in the Piedmont area of North Carolina.
Why it matters
This study found that the prevalence of dementia was similar in older Black and White community residents, and differences by race or gender were not significant. It provides information about how common dementia is in these groups but does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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Prevalence of cognitive impairment and dementia appear not to vary widely across the centres examined in this study, which provides stable estimates by age and sex for AGECAT O3 and above, and norms for MMSE.
Why it matters
This prevalence survey in six areas of England and Wales found that major influences on MMSE scores were age, sex, social class, and educational level. It estimated that around half a million people in England and Wales would be defined as case level by the method used, and found no heterogeneity in prevalence across the five centres employing the same methodology.
From across this topic
10 of the 7,981 studies in this topic, picked by a fixed rule (a hash of each study's address), not by score or date; each page of this list shows a different 10. The same 10 appear here every time.
- Association of neighborhood disadvantage with cognitive function and cortical disorganization in an unimpaired cohort: An exploratory study
- Quetiapine to treat agitation in dementia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study
- Study of Ancestry, Health, Environment, and Late-Life Neurodegeneration (SAHEL)
- Instrumental activities of daily living scale for dementia screening in elderly people
- NIH Calls for National Plan for Cancer Rehab
- Progression of cerebral small vessel disease in relation to risk factors and cognitive consequences: Rotterdam Scan study
- Enhancing Emergency Care for Persons Living with Dementia: Innovation and Age-friendly Approaches in Three Emergency Departments
- Factors associated with medication adherence in older adults: The atherosclerosis risk in communities study
- Derivation and validation of automated electronic search strategies to extract Charlson comorbidities from electronic medical records
- Intrinsic factors associated with engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviors for dementia risk reduction in midlife