Rapid repetitive syllable sounds associate with episodic memory, executive function, and working memory in cognitively healthy and subjectively impaired older adults.

Non-invasive screening tools for Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk are needed. Decline in episodic memory and subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) are both associated with elevated AD risk. We investigated associations between three cognitive domains (episodic memory, executive function, and working memory) and motor speech performance in older adults with healthy cognition (HC) or SCI.

ISLAND Campus: a fee-free formal university educational intervention in mid- to later-life to reduce modifiable risk factors for dementia and improve cognition.

Introduction: Previous research has tended to focus on early-life education for dementia risk reduction, yet there are great gains for building cognitive reserve in mid- to later-life through educational interventions. ISLAND (Island Study Linking Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disease) Campus offered free university study to all ISLAND participants, with flexible in-person/online learning models to remove educational, socioeconomic and geographical barriers. Here the core hypothesis of ISLAND Campus was investigated: that engagement in later life education leads to improvements in modifiable risk factors for dementia, cognition and blood-based biomarkers.

Smartphone automated motor and speech analysis for early detection of Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease: Validation of TapTalk across 20 different devices.

Introduction: Smartphones are proving useful in assessing movement and speech function in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. Valid outcomes across different smartphones are needed before population-level tests are deployed. This study introduces the TapTalk protocol, a novel app designed to capture hand and speech function and validate it in smartphones against gold-standard measures.

Hand Motor Dysfunction Is Associated with Both Subjective and Objective Cognitive Impairment across the Dementia Continuum.

Introduction: Motor dysfunction is an important feature of early-stage dementia. Gait provides a non-invasive biomarker across the dementia continuum. Gait speed and rhythm aid risk stratification of incident dementia in subjective cognitive impairment (SCI) and are associated with cognitive domains in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia.

Development of a smartphone screening test for preclinical Alzheimer's disease and validation across the dementia continuum.

Background: Dementia prevalence is predicted to triple to 152 million globally by 2050. Alzheimer's disease (AD) constitutes 70% of cases. There is an urgent need to identify individuals with preclinical AD, a 10-20-year period of progressive brain pathology without noticeable cognitive symptoms, for targeted risk reduction.

Modifiable dementia risk factors and AT(N) biomarkers: findings from the EPAD cohort.

Introduction: Modifiable risk factors account for a substantial proportion of Alzheimer's disease (AD) cases and we currently have a discrete AT(N) biomarker profile for AD biomarkers: amyloid (A), p-tau (T), and neurodegeneration (N). Here, we investigated how modifiable risk factors relate to the three hallmark AT(N) biomarkers of AD.

Methods: Participants from the European Prevention of Alzheimer's Dementia (EPAD) study underwent clinical assessments, brain magnetic resonance imaging, and cerebrospinal fluid collection and analysis.

Brief webcam test of hand movements predicts episodic memory, executive function, and working memory in a community sample of cognitively asymptomatic older adults.

Introduction: Low-cost simple tests for preclinical Alzheimer's disease are a research priority. We evaluated whether remote unsupervised webcam recordings of finger-tapping were associated with cognitive performance in older adults.

Methods: A total of 404 cognitively-asymptomatic participants (64.

Isolated rapid eye movement sleep behaviour disorder (iRBD) in the Island Study Linking Ageing and Neurodegenerative Disease (ISLAND) Sleep Study: protocol and baseline characteristics.

Isolated rapid eye movement (REM) sleep behaviour disorder (iRBD) is a sleep disorder that is characterised by dream enactment episodes during REM sleep. It is the strongest known predictor of α-synuclein-related neurodegenerative disease (αNDD), such that >80% of people with iRBD will eventually develop Parkinson's disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, or multiple system atrophy in later life. More research is needed to understand the trajectory of phenoconversion to each αNDD.

Does serum neurofilament light help predict accelerated cognitive ageing in unimpaired older adults?

Introduction: Neurofilament light (NfL) is a blood biomarker of neurodegeneration. While serum NfL levels have been demonstrated to increase with normal ageing, the relationship between serum NfL levels and normal age-related changes in cognitive functions is less well understood.

Methods: The current study investigated whether cross-sectional serum NfL levels measured by single molecule array technology (Simoa®) mediated the effect of age on cognition, measured by a battery of neuropsychological tests administered biannually for 8 years, in a cohort of 174 unimpaired older adults (≥50 years) from the Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project.

Modifiable risk factors for dementia, cognition, and plasma phosphorylated tau 181 in a large-scale cohort of Australian older adults.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common form of dementia, is preceded by years of silent pathological change. Our objective was to examine the associations between modifiable dementia risk factors, cognition, and plasma phosphorylated p-tau 181, a hallmark biomarker of AD in a large-scale community cohort. Participants (n = 738, mean age 65.

Estimating presymptomatic episodic memory impairment using simple hand movement tests: A cross-sectional study of a large sample of older adults.

Introduction: Finding low-cost methods to detect early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a research priority for neuroprotective drug development. Presymptomatic Alzheimer's is associated with gait impairment but hand motor tests, which are more accessible, have hardly been investigated. This study evaluated how home-based Tasmanian (TAS) Test keyboard tapping tests predict episodic memory performance.

Sex-Specific Protective Effects of Cognitive Reserve on Age-Related Cognitive Decline: A 5-Year Prospective Cohort Study.

Background And Objectives: Females have a higher age-adjusted incidence of Alzheimer disease than males but the reasons for this remain unclear. One proposed contributing factor is that, historically, females had less access to education and, therefore, may accumulate less cognitive reserve. However, educational attainment is confounded by IQ, which in itself is a component of cognitive reserve and does not differ between sexes.

Subthreshold repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation drives structural synaptic plasticity in the young and aged motor cortex.

Background: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a non-invasive tool commonly used to drive neural plasticity in the young adult and aged brain. Recent data from mouse models have shown that even at subthreshold intensities (0.12 T), rTMS can drive neuronal and glial plasticity in the motor cortex.

Studying at university in later life slows cognitive decline: A long-term prospective study.

Introduction: Declining cognition in later life is associated with loss of independence and quality of life. This decline in cognition may potentially be reduced or reversed through engaging in cognitively stimulating activities. This study examined the potential for university attendance in later life to enhance cognitive function in older adults.

Room for improvement: An online survey of allied health professionals' dementia knowledge.

Objective: To evaluate the dementia knowledge of allied health professionals and identify their specific learning needs.

Methods: An online survey was conducted with allied health professionals enrolled in the Understanding Dementia Massive Open Online Course, a free course open to anyone, worldwide. The primary outcome measure was the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale, assessed prior to course commencement.

Geolocator tagging links distributions in the non-breeding season to population genetic structure in a sentinel North Pacific seabird.

We tested the hypothesis that segregation in wintering areas is associated with population differentiation in a sentinel North Pacific seabird, the rhinoceros auklet (Cerorhinca monocerata). We collected tissue samples for genetic analyses on five breeding colonies in the western Pacific Ocean (Japan) and on 13 colonies in the eastern Pacific Ocean (California to Alaska), and deployed light-level geolocator tags on 12 eastern Pacific colonies to delineate wintering areas. Geolocator tags were deployed previously on one colony in Japan.

Iron is increased in the brains of ageing mice lacking the neurofilament light gene.

There has been strong interest in the role of metals in neurodegeneration, and how ageing may predispose the brain to related diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Recent work has also highlighted a potential interaction between different metal species and various components of the cytoskeletal network in the brain, which themselves have a reported role in age-related degenerative disease and other neurological disorders. Neurofilaments are one such class of intermediate filament protein that have a demonstrated capacity to bind and utilise cation species.

The Val66Met polymorphism moderates the effect of cognitive reserve on 36-month cognitive change in healthy older adults.

Introduction: Cognitive reserve (CR) and Val66Met are independently associated with the rate of cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer's disease. This study was designed to investigate the interactive effects of these variables on 36-month cognitive change in cognitively intact older adults.

Methods: Data for this investigation were obtained from 445 community-residing participants of the Tasmanian Healthy Brain Project, who underwent genetic screening and annual assessment of neuropsychological, health, and psychosocial function.