Expanding Alzheimer's Research at the University of Delaware and Beyond:: Proposed Delaware Center for Cognitive Aging Research (DECCAR).
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Martens PhD CR
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8482989 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:University students are the most employed category of participants in cognitive research. However, researchers cannot fully control what their participants do the night before the experiments (e.g., consumption of alcohol) and, unless the experiment specifically concerns the effects of alcohol consumption, they often do not ask about it. Despite previous studies demonstrating that alcohol consumption leads to decrements in next-day cognitive abilities, the potential confounding effect of hangover on the validity of cognitive research has never been addressed. To address this issue, in the present study, a test-retest design was used, with two groups of university students: at T0, one group was constituted by hungover participants, while the other group was constituted by non-hungover participants; at T1, both groups were re-tested in a non-hangover state. In particular, the tests used were two versions of a parity judgment task and an arithmetic verification task. The results highlight that: (a) the response times of university students experiencing a hangover are significantly slower than those of non-hangover students and (b) the response times of hungover students are slower than those of the same students when re-tested in a non-hangover state. Additionally, it was also observed that the prevalence of hungover students in the university campus varies depending on the day of the week, with a greater chance of enrolling hungover participants on specific days. In light of the latter result, the recruitment of university students as participants in cognitive experiments might lead researchers to erroneously attribute their results to the variables they are manipulating, ignoring the effects of the potential hangover state.
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Project description:Climate and ocean literacy are two of the most important challenges facing society today. However, many students lack exposure to these topics upon entering college. As a result, these students must rely on learning climate literacy and ocean conservation through experiences outside of those provided in the traditional undergraduate classroom. To fill this gap, we initiated a marine science professional development program to expose undergraduate students to ocean literacy principles and climate change concepts through marine ecology research and educational outreach. This study evaluates the effects of our undergraduate experiential learning for individuals involved in our research team, our educational outreach team, or both. Clemson University alumni that participated in our program were surveyed to determine educational and professional gains in three areas related to: (1) knowledge; (2) careers; and (3) attitudes. Multiple linear and logistic regressions were used to understand the relationships between gains and program type, mentor experience, and duration of program enrollment. In addition, we evaluated demographic covariates including age, ideology, and gender. Our study found that perceived knowledge of marine science and science communication skills increased with positive mentor experience. Alumni that rated their experience with their mentors highly also indicated that the program was important to their careers after graduation. Students who participated in any program for a prolonged period were more likely to indicate that marine science was important to their careers. These students were also more likely to continue their education. Additionally, we saw that a sense of belonging and identity in science, as well as the understanding of climate change threat on the marine environment, all increased with longer program involvement, more than the type of experience (research versus outreach). Overall, we found that both the research and outreach programs offered opportunities for advancements in knowledge, careers, and attitudes. These results provide evidence that experiential learning has the potential to increase student engagement and understanding of climate change and ocean literacy communication as well as a sense of belonging in science-oriented fields.
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Project description:Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) is widely used by behavioral scientists to recruit research participants. MTurk offers advantages over traditional student subject pools, but it also has important limitations. In particular, the MTurk population is small and potentially overused, and some groups of interest to behavioral scientists are underrepresented and difficult to recruit. Here we examined whether online research panels can avoid these limitations. Specifically, we compared sample composition, data quality (measured by effect sizes, internal reliability, and attention checks), and the non-naivete of participants recruited from MTurk and Prime Panels-an aggregate of online research panels. Prime Panels participants were more diverse in age, family composition, religiosity, education, and political attitudes. Prime Panels participants also reported less exposure to classic protocols and produced larger effect sizes, but only after screening out several participants who failed a screening task. We conclude that online research panels offer a unique opportunity for research, yet one with some important trade-offs.
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Project description:Increased knowledge of the biology of synaptic function has led to the development of novel cognitive-enhancing therapeutic strategies with the potential for increased efficacy and safety. This editorial highlights a diverse array of approaches currently being explored to target cognitive dysfunction due to aging and/or Alzheimer's disease.
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Project description:This study is part of the Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Center Research. The series subsets represent the strain and age group for easy comparisons. Each subseries has data for three different tissues (brain, liver and kidney) and 2 sexes. Keywords: other
2005-10-18 | E-GEOD-1920 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Gene expression was measured from the dentate gyrus and entorhinal cortex harvested from human postmortem samples. We harvested the dentate gyrus DG from healthy human brains ranging from 33 to 88 years of age. Additionally, from each brain we harvested the entorhinal cortex (EC) as a within-brain control. Using Affymetrix microarray chips we generated gene-expression profiles of each individual tissue samples. DG expression levels were first normalized against the EC, and the normalized DG transcripts were then correlated against age.
2013-04-19 | E-GEOD-46193 | biostudies-arrayexpress
Project description:Objective: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) have an extremely high genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD), however, the course of cognitive decline associated with progression to dementia is ill-defined. Data-driven methods can estimate long-term trends from cross-sectional data while adjusting for variability in baseline ability, which complicates dementia assessment in those with DS.Methods: We applied an event-based model to cognitive test data and informant-rated questionnaire data from 283 adults with DS (the largest study of cognitive functioning in DS to date) to estimate the sequence of cognitive decline and individuals' disease stage.Results: Decline in tests of memory, sustained attention/motor coordination, and verbal fluency occurred early, demonstrating that AD in DS follows a similar pattern of change to other forms of AD. Later decline was found for informant measures. Using the resulting staging model, we showed that adults with a clinical diagnosis of dementia and those with APOE 3:4 or 4:4 genotype were significantly more likely to be staged later, suggesting that the model is valid.Interpretation: Our results identify tests of memory and sustained attention may be particularly useful measures to track decline in the preclinical/prodromal stages of AD in DS whereas informant-measures may be useful in later stages (i.e. during conversion into dementia, or postdiagnosis). These results have implications for the selection of outcome measures of treatment trials to delay or prevent cognitive decline due to AD in DS. As clinical diagnoses are generally made late into AD progression, early assessment is essential.
| S-EPMC5989753 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are associated with widespread changes in brain structure and function, as indicated by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) morphometry and 18-fluorodeoxyglucose position emission tomography (FDG PET) metabolism. Nevertheless, the ability to differentiate between AD, MCI and normal aging groups can be difficult. Thus, the goal of this study was to identify the combination of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers, MRI morphometry, FDG PET metabolism and neuropsychological test scores to that best differentiate between a sample of normal aging subjects and those with MCI and AD from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. The secondary goal was to determine the neuroimaging variables from MRI, FDG PET and CSF biomarkers that can predict future cognitive decline within each group. To achieve these aims, a series of multivariate stepwise logistic and linear regression models were generated. Combining all neuroimaging modalities and cognitive test scores significantly improved the index of discrimination, especially at the earliest stages of the disease, whereas MRI gray matter morphometry variables best predicted future cognitive decline compared to other neuroimaging variables. Overall these findings demonstrate that a multimodal approach using MRI morphometry, FDG PET metabolism, neuropsychological test scores and CSF biomarkers may provide significantly better discrimination than any modality alone.
| S-EPMC5871997 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundPlasma NfL (pNfL) levels are elevated in many neurological disorders. However, the utility of pNfL in a clinical setting has not been established.ObjectiveIn a cohort of diverse older participants, we examined: 1) the association of pNfL to age, sex, Hispanic ethnicity, diagnosis, and structural and amyloid imaging biomarkers; and 2) its association to baseline and longitudinal cognitive and functional performance.Methods309 subjects were classified at baseline as cognitively normal (CN) or with cognitive impairment. Most subjects had structural MRI and amyloid PET scans. The most frequent etiological diagnosis was Alzheimer's disease (AD), but other neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders were also represented. We assessed the relationship of pNfL to cognitive and functional status, primary etiology, imaging biomarkers, and to cognitive and functional decline.ResultspNfL increased with age, degree of hippocampal atrophy, and amyloid load, and was higher in females among CN subjects, but was not associated with Hispanic ethnicity. Compared to CN subjects, pNfL was elevated among those with AD or FTLD, but not those with neuropsychiatric or other disorders. Hippocampal atrophy, amyloid positivity and higher pNfL levels each added unique variance in predicting greater functional impairment on the CDR-SB at baseline. Higher baseline pNfL levels also predicted greater cognitive and functional decline after accounting for hippocampal atrophy and memory scores at baseline.ConclusionpNfL may have a complementary and supportive role to brain imaging and cognitive testing in a memory disorder evaluation, although its diagnostic sensitivity and specificity as a stand-alone measure is modest. In the absence of expensive neuroimaging tests, pNfL could be used for differentiating neurodegenerative disease from neuropsychiatric disorders.
| S-EPMC7902971 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This study is part of the Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Center Research. The series subsets represent the strain and age group for easy comparisons. Each subseries has data for three different tissues (brain, liver and kidney) and 2 sexes. Keywords: other
2005-10-18 | GSE1920 | GEO