Each study has a usefulness score out of 100 (rubric version 4.0). Tap a score to see what makes it up.
Highest usefulness score first. Studies without a score come last.
-
46/100
Poor diet and obesity are associated with cognitive impairment throughout adulthood, and increased dementia risk in aging.
Why it matters
This review describes how diets high in fat, or fat and sugar, may lead to cognitive impairment through changes to gut microbiome composition, inflammatory signalling and blood-brain barrier integrity, with preclinical studies indicating weight gain is not necessary for this. It identifies mechanisms but does not show that any dietary change prevents or treats Alzheimer's disease.
-
Emerging digital tools have the potential to enable a new generation of qualitative and quantitative assessment of cognitive performance.
Why it matters
At-home digital tools like apps and wearables are in development or available for detecting mild cognitive impairment, a risk factor for dementia, and could improve access to cognitive assessments. However, these direct-to-consumer tools face barriers including test validation and user experience, and large-scale self-assessed cognitive evaluation may be feasible in the future.
-
The observed misalignment of opinion between end users and developers on desirable design features of companion robots demonstrates the need for user-centred design during development.
Why it matters
This study found that older people and robot designers have significantly different preferences for companion robot design, with older people preferring soft, furry, familiar and realistic animals. It suggests that involving older people in the design process could make companion robots more suitable for them, but it did not test whether any robot actually reduces agitation or depression.
-
Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are highly prevalent conditions, and prior efforts to develop predictive models have relied on demographic and clinical risk factors using traditional logistical regression methods.
Why it matters
A machine learning model using administrative claims data predicted Alzheimer's disease and related dementias 4-5 years in advance with an area under the curve of 0.693. This is a prediction tool only and does not treat, cure or prevent dementia.
-
Language performance deficits can appear early before impairment in episodic memory, visuospatial construction ability, or mental status in individuals at risk for MCI.
Why it matters
This study evaluated language performance in 83 individuals at risk for mild cognitive impairment and found language subtests were most likely to show impairment. It is about early detection of cognitive changes, not treatment, cure or prevention of Alzheimer's disease.
-
In contrast to newborns, who spend 16-20 h in sleep each day, adults need only about sleep daily.
Why it matters
This review notes that sleep patterns change as part of normal ageing and that the prevalence of sleep disorders is higher among older adults. It states that common medical problems of old age, including dementia, are associated with sleep disturbances.
-
Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) include α-linolenic acid (ALA; 18:3 ω-3), stearidonic acid (SDA; 18:4 ω-3), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5 ω-3), docosapentaenoic acid (DPA; 22:5 ω-3), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6 ω-3).
Why it matters
This review summarizes omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids and their reported effects on many conditions including Alzheimer's disease and dementia. It notes that controversies exist about their efficacy and certain benefits to human health.
-
First introduced in 1989, proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are among the most widely utilized medications worldwide, both in the ambulatory and inpatient clinical settings.
Why it matters
This review notes that long-term proton pump inhibitor use has been linked in some studies to potential adverse effects including dementia, but most published evidence is inadequate to establish a definite association. It concludes that when clinically indicated, proton pump inhibitors can be prescribed at the lowest effective dose for symptom control.
-
Senescence is a leading cause of mortality, disability, and non-communicable chronic diseases in older adults.
Why it matters
This review reports that cardiovascular disease and risk factors raise the incidence of vascular cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease, and that age-related declines in cardiovascular function may impair cerebral blood flow regulation. It suggests regular aerobic exercise may improve cardiovascular function and cerebral blood flow regulation, but this is a proposed preventive strategy, not a proven treatment.
-
The relationship between obesity and cognitive impairment is important given the globally ageing population in whom cognitive decline and neurodegenerative disorders will carry grave individual, societal and financial burdens.
Why it matters
This review reports that obesity in midlife is strongly associated with impaired cognitive function and that obesity and its related conditions such as type 2 diabetes likely contribute to cognitive decline and dementia. It also notes that a possible protective effect of obesity in older age needs more study, and that surgical and diet interventions may improve cognitive capacity.
-
This is the first study to consider resident, unit, staff, and home variables that are associated with food intake.
-
Herbal therapy demonstrated a significant improvement in cognition and memory, which were similar to the donepezil in patients with aMCI.
Why it matters
In this 24-week trial of 324 people with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, an herbal therapy improved cognition on the primary measure by about 4.23 points and was similar to donepezil, with fewer adverse events. The authors conclude the herbal therapy was safe and well tolerated, though the trial compared it only to donepezil, not to placebo.
-
The PARADIGM-HF (Prospective comparison of ARNI with ACEI to Determine Impact on Global Mortality and morbidity in Heart Failure) trial was a double-blind trial that randomized 8442 patients with heart failure (HF) with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) to receive twice daily dosing of either 200 mg of LCZ696 or 10 mg of enalapril in addition to standard medical therapy for HF.
Why it matters
This paper discusses limitations of a heart failure trial, including that neprilysin inhibition might favor the development of Alzheimer dementia, which was not assessed in that trial. It does not test or show any effect on Alzheimer's disease.
-
New-onset epilepsy seems to occur early in the course of dementia in DS patients.
Why it matters
This review of patient records found that new-onset seizures tended to occur about two years after a dementia diagnosis in people with Down syndrome, and most patients treated with levetiracetam achieved partial or complete seizure control. It describes the clinical course and seizure treatment response but does not address curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
-
Overall, statin drugs appear to be safe for use in the vast majority of patients.
Why it matters
This review of statin safety found that statins appear safe for the vast majority of patients, with myalgia the most common side effect and rhabdomyolysis rare. It does not address statins as a treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
-
According to caregivers, residents with dementia experienced fewer other physical symptoms (e.g. nausea) than residents without dementia.
-
46/100
As individuals age, the quality of cognitive function becomes an increasingly important topic.
Why it matters
This review describes mild cognitive impairment as a state between normal aging and dementia, with prevalence of 15% to 20% in people 60 and older and annual progression to dementia of 8% to 15%. It notes that not all mild cognitive impairment is due to Alzheimer's disease and that treatable causes may improve, but it does not present a treatment or cure.
-
The prevalence of dementia is increasing in our aging population at an alarming rate.
Why it matters
This review states that cerebrovascular dysfunction at some point during the disease process is a common etiology shared among Alzheimer's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, frontotemporal dementia, vascular dementia, and mixed dementias. It highlights small-vessel disease as an underlying neuropathologic hallmark and discusses shared molecular mechanisms including hypoxia, oxidative stress, mitochondrial bioenergetics, neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and blood–brain barrier permeability.
-
The AddNeuroMed and ADNI cohorts were combined giving a total of 329 healthy controls, 421 mild cognitive impairment patients, and 286 Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients.
Why it matters
This study validated a visual rating scale for frontal brain atrophy and examined its links to clinical status, APOE e4, CSF biomarkers, and cognition. It is about measuring brain changes, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
-
Comprehension deficits are common in stroke aphasia, including in cases with (i) semantic aphasia, characterized by poor executive control of semantic processing across verbal and non-verbal modalities; and (ii) Wernicke's aphasia, associated with poor auditory-verbal comprehension and repetition, plus fluent speech with jargon.
Why it matters
This paper describes different types of semantic access impairment in semantic aphasia and Wernicke's aphasia after stroke. It concerns understanding these language disorders, not Alzheimer's disease treatment, cure or prevention.
-
Although preclinical dementia is characterized by decline in cognition and daily functioning, little is known on their temporal sequence.
Why it matters
This study followed 856 dementia cases and 1712 controls for 18 years and found that memory complaints appeared about 16 years before diagnosis, followed by decline in cognition and daily functioning. It describes the sequence of changes before dementia is diagnosed and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention.
-
Language batteries used to assess the skills of elderly individuals, such as naming and semantic verbal fluency, present some limitations in differentiating healthy controls from patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (a-MCI).
Why it matters
Patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment already show mild narrative discourse deficits that are intermediate between healthy controls and those with Alzheimer's disease. This finding is about early detection of language changes and does not address treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
-
The N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) has a well-documented prognostic value for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and higher levels are associated with cognitive-dysfunction in patients with CVD.
Why it matters
This study examined whether a heart-related blood marker, NT-proBNP, relates to dementia and cognitive decline in people without heart failure or dementia. It does not show that measuring or changing this marker prevents or treats Alzheimer's disease.
-
The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is a rapid screening battery, also including subtests to assess frontal functions such as set-shifting, abstraction and cognitive flexibility.
Why it matters
This study provides normative data for the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in an Italian population and found that age and education significantly influenced performance. It is about interpreting a cognitive screening test, not about treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
-
Dietary consumption of baked or broiled fish is related to larger gray matter volumes independent of omega-3 fatty acid content.
Why it matters
In this study of cognitively normal older adults, weekly consumption of baked or broiled fish was associated with larger gray matter volumes in several brain regions. It suggests a possible link between diet and brain structure, but it does not show that fish consumption prevents or treats Alzheimer's disease.
From across this topic
10 of the 7,967 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.
- Run-in periods in randomized trials: implications for the application of results in clinical practice
- Disparities in brain health comorbidity management in intracerebral hemorrhage
- Seek, and you will find? Word finding in multilingual dementia
- When, where, and how the corpus callosum changes in MCI and AD: a multimodal MRI study
- Glucose indices are associated with cognitive and structural brain measures in young adults
- Sleep disorders in aging and dementia
- Community-Based Participatory Research on Art Engagement for People with Dementia in Japan
- Gait and movement analysis for discrimination between people with dementia and healthy control persons based on pose estimation and machine learning
- Identifying triggers for optimal timing of advance care planning in electronic primary health care records: a nested case-control study
- Progressive Supranuclear Palsy—A Global Review