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.
-
The concept of brain reserve refers to the ability to tolerate the age-related changes and the disease related pathology in the brain without developing clear clinical symptoms or signs.
Why it matters
This review of epidemiological studies suggests that high education, complex work, and a mentally and socially integrated lifestyle in late life could postpone the onset of clinical dementia and Alzheimer's disease. It reports associations from population studies and does not test a treatment or cure.
-
MCI classification guidelines should allow for functional changes in MCI, and clinicians should monitor for such changes.
-
A long-term TNP in ChEIs-treated MCI subjects induces additional cognitive and mood benefits.
Why it matters
In this one-year study of 59 people with mild cognitive impairment, those who received no treatment maintained their cognitive, functional and behavioral status, while those on cholinesterase inhibitors improved in depressive symptoms. The small sample and design limit conclusions about whether cognitive rehabilitation slows progression to Alzheimer's disease.
-
All three psychomotor disturbance subtypes had an elevated risk of dying during the 1-year follow-up relative to the normal psychomotor group, though the hypoactive group had the highest mortality risk and was the only group with a statistically significantly elevated risk relative to the normal group.
-
Hippocampal MRglc reductions using FDG-PET during normal aging predict cognitive decline years in advance of the clinical diagnosis.
Why it matters
In 77 cognitively normal adults aged 50-80 followed for 6-14 years, lower hippocampal glucose use on a baseline FDG-PET scan predicted who later declined, on average 8 years later: to Alzheimer's disease with 81% accuracy (6 cases, 2 confirmed at autopsy), to other dementias with 77%, and to mild cognitive impairment with 71%. Because the same signal also flagged non-Alzheimer dementias, the authors say future studies must improve its specificity. This is an early-warning research finding about prediction, not a diagnostic test or a treatment.
-
We found excellent evidence for the efficacy of six or more sessions of individual behavioral management therapy centered on the care recipient's behavior in alleviating caregiver symptoms both immediately and for up to 32 months.
Why it matters
This review found excellent evidence that six or more sessions of individual behavioral management therapy centered on the care recipient's behavior reduced caregiver symptoms immediately and for up to 32 months. It concerns caregiver support and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease itself.
-
Structural imaging studies investigating hippocampal volumes in patients suffering from major depression have yielded mixed results.
-
The Ginkgo biloba special extract EGb 761 seems to produce neuroprotective effects in neurodegenerative diseases of multifactorial origin.
Why it matters
This small study reported that Ginkgo biloba extract had clinical efficacy comparable to donepezil in mild to moderate Alzheimer dementia. However, the available text does not provide the full results or statistical details needed to judge the strength of this finding.
-
Occurrence of dementia during the 20 years of follow-up was 4%.
Why it matters
Using the population-based CAIDE study, which measured 1,409 people in midlife and re-examined them 20 years later, the authors built a simple 0–15 dementia risk score from midlife risk factors. Over those 20 years 4% developed dementia; the predictors named in the available text are age 47 or over and low education. The authors call the score "a novel approach" that "should be validated and further improved"; it predicts risk and does not show that changing any factor prevents dementia.
-
Inclusion of instrumental activities of daily living restriction in the criteria of mild cognitive impairment improves the prediction of dementia and the stability of this status over time.
Why it matters
In the PAQUID cohort, 30.7% of people with mild cognitive impairment who had trouble with at least two of four everyday tasks (telephone, transport, medication, finances) developed dementia within two years, versus 7.8% of those without such trouble; only 10.7% of the restricted group returned to normal, versus 34.7%. The authors argue that leaving these everyday-task problems out of MCI criteria selects people with a low chance of short-term progression. This is an association in one cohort and tests no treatment.
-
Rural residence was also associated with lower risk of more than 10 days of hospitalization and ICU admission.
-
Potentially modifiable risk factors from early and midlife, with a cumulative detrimental effect on the brain, contribute to risk of dementia.
Why it matters
In this twin study, a history of tooth loss before age 35 was a significant risk factor for Alzheimer's disease even in co-twin analyses controlling for genetic influences, and low educational attainment contributed to risk for total dementia. These findings identify possible risk factors but do not show that any intervention prevents or treats dementia.
-
Subclinical structural brain abnormalities in high-functioning older adults can increase the risk of developing physical disabilities and declining in motor performance.
-
Despite the substantial improvement in apathy scores during the course of the study, there was no clear advantage to the reminiscence-based intervention over the time and attention, one-on-one control intervention.
Why it matters
In this randomized trial of 37 patients with dementia in long-term care, apathy scores fell significantly in both the kit-based activity group and the time-and-attention control group, with no clear advantage for the activity intervention. The only significant difference between groups was a modest advantage for the control intervention on one cueing subscale and on quality of life ratings.
-
Promoting active lifestyles in physically capable men could help late-life cognitive function.
Why it matters
In 2,257 physically capable men aged 71 to 93 in the Honolulu-Asia Aging Study, those who walked less each day were more likely to develop dementia over the following years. For example, men walking 0.25 to 1 mile a day had dementia at 17.6 versus 10.3 cases per 1,000 person-years (hazard ratio 1.71). The authors say the link held after allowing for the chance that early, undiagnosed dementia was already making men walk less. This is an observational study of older men only: it shows walking is associated with lower dementia risk, not that walking prevents it.
-
Overall, hospice care in NHs does not appear to increase government expenditures.
-
62/100
Dementia emerged as the most potent risk factor for institutionalization in this 12-year community-based epidemiological study.
Why it matters
In this community cohort followed for 12 years, dementia was the strongest predictor of being admitted to a nursing facility, along with older age. This shows that dementia greatly raises the chance that an older person will need nursing home care.
-
We performed a comprehensive cognitive, neuroimaging, and genetic study of 31 patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA), a decline in language functions that remains isolated for at least 2 years.
Why it matters
This study of 31 patients with primary progressive aphasia found three clinical variants with distinct patterns of brain atrophy and different frequencies of the Apolipoprotein E epsilon4 haplotype. It describes these language-related conditions and their anatomy, but does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer's disease.
-
Donepezil-treated patients demonstrated significant improvements in cognition and global function compared with placebo-treated patients, and donepezil was well tolerated.
-
Delirium is a frequent complication in older ICU patients and often persists beyond their ICU stay.
Why it matters
In this study of older intensive care patients, delirium was common during hospitalization and often persisted afterward, and patients with dementia were more likely to develop it. This concerns delirium in the hospital, not treating or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
-
Long-term NSAID use may reduce the risk of AD, provided such use occurs well before the onset of dementia.
Why it matters
In this study, long-term NSAID use was associated with lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease, with greater risk reduction seen with longer duration of use. Similar patterns appeared with aspirin but not with H2 receptor antagonists or other medicines examined.
-
On average, persons with mild cognitive impairment had significantly lower scores at baseline in all cognitive domains.
Why it matters
This longitudinal study found that people with mild cognitive impairment had a higher risk of death and were more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those without cognitive impairment. It does not test any treatment or prevention, but describes the natural course of mild cognitive impairment.
-
Persistence with statin therapy in older patients declines substantially over time, with the greatest drop occurring in the first 6 months of treatment.
Why it matters
This study describes how many elderly patients kept taking statin therapy over time, finding that persistence dropped substantially, with only 1 patient in 4 maintaining a high level of coverage after 5 years. It concerns statin use patterns and does not address treating, curing, or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
-
62/100
The study presents a technique for automatically assigning a neuroanatomical label to each voxel in an MRI volume using probabilistic information from a manually labeled training set.
Why it matters
Concerns whole brain segmentation, meaning the division of a brain image into its separate structures. It is an image-analysis method for research and does not treat or prevent Alzheimer's disease.
-
62/100
The association between blood pressure and dementia is debated.
Why it matters
This study pooled two population-based studies to examine the relation between blood pressure and dementia, including whether age changes that relation. It is observational, so it cannot show that lowering blood pressure prevents dementia.
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.
- xEEGNet: towards explainable AI in EEG dementia classification
- Multidisciplinary Home-Based Palliative Care for People Living with Dementia: Preliminary Findings on Palliative Care Concerns and Caregiver Burden
- Effect of Cholinesterase Inhibitors on Mortality in Patients With Dementia: A Systematic Review of Randomized and Nonrandomized Trials
- Young-onset Parkinson's disease revisited--clinical features, natural history, and mortality
- Interpretable machine learning for dementia: A systematic review
- Quality of plant-based diet and the risk of dementia and depression among middle-aged and older population
- End-of-life experiences in dementia with Lewy bodies: Qualitative interviews with former caregivers
- South Korean study to prevent cognitive impairment and protect brain health through multidomain interventions via face‐to‐face and video communication platforms in mild cognitive impairment (SUPERBRAIN‐MEET): A randomized controlled trial
- Diabetes, glucose control, and 9-year cognitive decline among older adults without dementia
- Hypertension and dementia