The effect of birthweight and gestational age on cognitive function in midlife: the Bogalusa heart study.

Background: Although the relationships between birthweight, gestational age (GA), and cognitive function (CF) before midlife have been demonstrated, the relationships after midlife and potential racial disparities remain inconclusive. This study examined the association between birthweight, GA, and midlife CF stratified by race.

Method: 1,032 subjects from the Bogalusa Heart Study (67% Whites, 33% Blacks, mean age 48.

Neuropsychological phenotypic characteristics in a cohort of community-based older adults: Data from the Framingham Heart Study.

BackgroundNeuropsychological (NP) assessment is crucial for diagnosing prodromal and Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD) syndromes. Yet, traditional NP scores often overlook errors and the process by which summary scores are obtained; information that can provide deeper insights into cognitive impairments and clinical heterogeneity.ObjectiveTo classify community-dwelling adults into neurocognitive phenotypes, identify NP test errors and processes that differentiate between groups, and explore their association with brain imaging measures.

Precision neurocognition: An emerging diagnostic paradigm leveraging digital cognitive assessment technology.

Strategies that may modify Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other dementia disorders are being developed. To maximize the benefits of these strategies, it is critical that indicators suggesting neurocognitive decline are identified as early as possible. ' is a heuristic that seeks to develop methodologies capable of identifying subtle behavior(s) that may flag emerging AD and other dementia related syndromes.

Cutoffs of the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living-Compensation (IADL-C) Scale for Identification of Functional Limitations Consistent With Mild Cognitive Impairment and Dementia.

Objective: Understanding how well older individuals with suspected cognitive impairment are functioning within the real-world environment can have important implications for diagnosis and treatment. To evaluate whether an individual is experiencing functional limitations suggesting the presence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or dementia, we establish diagnostic cutoff scores for the informant version of the Instrumental Activities of Daily Living-Compensation (IADL-C) scale.

Method: Informants of research (n = 488) and clinical (n = 119) samples of participants designated as healthy older controls, MCI, or dementia completed the IADL-C.

Developing a fair and interpretable representation of the clock drawing test for mitigating low education and racial bias.

The clock drawing test (CDT) is a neuropsychological assessment tool to screen an individual's cognitive ability. In this study, we developed a Fair and Interpretable Representation of Clock drawing test (FaIRClocks) to evaluate and mitigate classification bias against people with less than 8 years of education, while screening their cognitive function using an array of neuropsychological measures. In this study, we represented clock drawings by a priorly published 10-dimensional deep learning feature set trained on publicly available data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS).

Cerebral Microbleeds in Different Brain Regions and Their Associations With the Digital Clock-Drawing Test: Secondary Analysis of the Framingham Heart Study.

Background: Cerebral microbleeds (CMB) increase the risk for Alzheimer disease. Current neuroimaging methods that are used to detect CMB are costly and not always accessible.

Objective: This study aimed to explore whether the digital clock-drawing test (DCT) may provide a behavioral indicator of CMB.

Digital assessment of cognition in neurodegenerative disease: a data driven approach leveraging artificial intelligence.

Introduction: A rapid and reliable neuropsychological protocol is essential for the efficient assessment of neurocognitive constructs related to emergent neurodegenerative diseases. We developed an AI-assisted, digitally administered/scored neuropsychological protocol that can be remotely administered in ~10 min. This protocol assesses the requisite neurocognitive constructs associated with emergent neurodegenerative illnesses.

Dysexecutive difficulty and subtle everyday functional disabilities: the digital Trail Making Test.

Background: Digital neuropsychological tests reliably capture real-time, process-based behavior that traditional paper/pencil tests cannot detect, enabling earlier detection of neurodegenerative illness. We assessed relations between informant-based subtle and mild functional decline and process-based features extracted from the digital Trail Making Test-Part B (dTMT-B).

Methods: A total of 321 community-dwelling participants (56.

A Network Analysis of Digital Clock Drawing for Command and Copy Conditions.

Graphomotor and time-based variables from the digital Clock Drawing Test (dCDT) characterize cognitive functions. However, no prior publications have quantified the strength of the associations between digital clock variables as they are produced. We hypothesized that analysis of the production of clock features and their interrelationships, as suggested, will differ between the command and copy test conditions.

A Chronic Increase in Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability Facilitates Intraneuronal Deposition of Exogenous Bloodborne Amyloid-Beta1-42 Peptide in the Brain and Leads to Alzheimer's Disease-Relevant Cognitive Changes in a Mouse Model.

Background: Increased blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability and amyloid-β (Aβ) peptides (especially Aβ1-42) (Aβ42) have been linked to Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathogenesis, but the nature of their involvement in AD-related neuropathological changes leading to cognitive changes remains poorly understood.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that chronic extravasation of bloodborne Aβ42 peptide and brain-reactive autoantibodies and their entry into the brain parenchyma via a permeable BBB contribute to AD-related pathological changes and cognitive changes in a mouse model.

Methods: The BBB was rendered chronically permeable through repeated injections of Pertussis toxin (PT), and soluble monomeric, fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled or unlabeled Aβ42 was injected into the tail-vein of 10-month-old male CD1 mice at designated intervals spanning ∼3 months.

Comparing Cognitive Tests and Smartphone-Based Assessment in 2 US Community-Based Cohorts.

Background: Smartphone-based cognitive assessments have emerged as promising tools, bridging gaps in accessibility and reducing bias in Alzheimer disease and related dementia research. However, their congruence with traditional neuropsychological tests and usefulness in diverse cohorts remain underexplored.

Methods And Results: A total of 406 FHS (Framingham Heart Study) and 59 BHS (Bogalusa Heart Study) participants with traditional neuropsychological tests and digital assessments using the Defense Automated Neurocognitive Assessment (DANA) smartphone protocol were included.

Using digital assessment technology to detect neuropsychological problems in primary care settings.

Introduction: Screening for neurocognitive impairment and psychological distress in ambulatory primary and specialty care medical settings is an increasing necessity. The Core Cognitive Evaluation™ (CCE) is administered/scored using an iPad, requires approximately 8 min, assesses 3- word free recall and clock drawing to command and copy, asks questions about lifestyle and health, and queries for psychological distress. This information is linked with patients' self- reported concerns about memory and their cardiovascular risks.

FaIRClocks: Fair and Interpretable Representation of the Clock Drawing Test for mitigating classifier bias against lower educational groups.

The clock drawing test (CDT) is a neuropsychological assessment tool to evaluate a patient's cognitive ability. In this study, we developed a ir and nterpretable epresentation of drawing tests () to evaluate and mitigate bias against people with lower education while predicting their cognitive status. We represented clock drawings with a 10-dimensional latent embedding using Relevance Factor Variational Autoencoder (RF-VAE) network pretrained on publicly available clock drawings from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) dataset.

Instrumental activities of daily living and mild cognitive impairment.

Background: Functional impairments are a necessary requirement for the diagnosis of a dementia along with observed cognitive impairment. Comparatively, functional abilities are often relatively intact in those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Objective: The current research examined the associations between memory clinic participants classified as cognitively intact, amnestic MCI, and mixed/dysexecutive MCI, using Jak-Bondi criteria, and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living - Compensation Scale (IADL-C) abilities, an informant-based questionnaire that quantifies functional abilities.

Contributions of Cardiovascular Burden, Peripheral Inflammation, and Brain Integrity on Digital Clock Drawing Performance in Non-Demented Older Adults.

Background: Greater cardiovascular burden and peripheral inflammation are associated with dysexecutive neuropsychological profiles and a higher likelihood of conversion to vascular dementia. The digital clock drawing test (dCDT) is useful in identifying neuropsychological dysfunction related to vascular etiology. However, the specific cognitive implications of the combination of cardiovascular risk, peripheral inflammation, and brain integrity remain unknown.

Neurocognitive Operations Underlying Working Memory Abilities: An Analysis of Latency and Time-Based Parameters.

Background: The theory of executive attention (Fuster, 2015) suggests considerable plasticity regarding when specific neurocognitive operations are recruited to bring executive tasks to fruition.

Objective: We tested the hypothesis that differing neurocognitive operations are recruited upon the initiation of a response, but that other distinct neurocognitive operations are recruited towards the middle or end of a response.

Methods: The Backward Digit Span Test (BDST) was administered to 58 memory clinic patients (MCI, n = 22; no-MCI, n = 36).

Höffding step and beyond: The impact of visual sensory impairment on cognitive performance in neuropsychological testing of survivors of acute methanol poisoning.

Background: Sensory deficits can result in limitations regarding how well neuropsychological test findings can be interpreted. Only a few studies have investigated the influence of vision alteration on neuropsychological tests. In 2012 the Czech Republic experienced mass methanol poisoning.

Midlife Neuropsychological Profiles and Associated Vascular Risk: The Bogalusa Heart Study.

Background: Individuals with Alzheimer's disease (AD) often present with coexisting vascular pathology that is expressed to different degrees and can lead to clinical heterogeneity.

Objective: To examine the utility of unsupervised statistical clustering approaches in identifying neuropsychological (NP) test performance subtypes that closely correlate with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in midlife.

Methods: A hierarchical agglomerative and k-means clustering analysis based on NP scores (standardized for age, sex, and race) was conducted among 1,203 participants (age 48±5.

Explainable semi-supervised deep learning shows that dementia is associated with small, avocado-shaped clocks with irregularly placed hands.

The clock drawing test is a simple and inexpensive method to screen for cognitive frailties, including dementia. In this study, we used the relevance factor variational autoencoder (RF-VAE), a deep generative neural network, to represent digitized clock drawings from multiple institutions using an optimal number of disentangled latent factors. The model identified unique constructional features of clock drawings in a completely unsupervised manner.

Early Detection of Alzheimer's Disease-Related Pathology Using a Multi-Disease Diagnostic Platform Employing Autoantibodies as Blood-Based Biomarkers.

Background: Evidence for the universal presence of IgG autoantibodies in blood and their potential utility for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and other neurodegenerative diseases has been extensively demonstrated by our laboratory. The fact that AD-related neuropathological changes in the brain can begin more than a decade before tell-tale symptoms emerge has made it difficult to develop diagnostic tests useful for detecting the earliest stages of AD pathogenesis.

Objective: To determine the utility of a panel of autoantibodies for detecting the presence of AD-related pathology along the early AD continuum, including at pre-symptomatic [an average of 4 years before the transition to mild cognitive impairment (MCI)/AD)], prodromal AD (MCI), and mild-moderate AD stages.

Variational autoencoder provides proof of concept that compressing CDT to extremely low-dimensional space retains its ability of distinguishing dementia.

The clock drawing test (CDT) is an inexpensive tool to screen for dementia. In this study, we examined if a variational autoencoder (VAE) with only two latent variables can capture and encode clock drawing anomalies from a large dataset of unannotated CDTs (n = 13,580) using self-supervised pre-training and use them to classify dementia CDTs (n = 18) from non-dementia CDTs (n = 20). The model was independently validated using a larger cohort consisting of 41 dementia and 50 non-dementia clocks.

The Boston Process Approach and Digital Neuropsychological Assessment: Past Research and Future Directions.

Neuropsychological assessment using the Boston Process Approach (BPA) suggests that an analysis of the strategy or the process by which tasks and neuropsychological tests are completed, and the errors made during test completion convey much information regarding underlying brain and cognition and are as important as overall summary scores. Research over the last several decades employing an analysis of process and errors has been able to dissociate between dementia patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia associated with MRI-determined white matter alterations, and Parkinson's disease; and between mild cognitive impairment subtypes. Nonetheless, BPA methods can be labor intensive to deploy.

Associations Between the Digital Clock Drawing Test and Brain Volume: Large Community-Based Prospective Cohort (Framingham Heart Study).

Background: The digital Clock Drawing Test (dCDT) has been recently used as a more objective tool to assess cognition. However, the association between digitally obtained clock drawing features and structural neuroimaging measures has not been assessed in large population-based studies.

Objective: We aimed to investigate the association between dCDT features and brain volume.

Carotid Intima-Media Thickness and Midlife Cognitive Function: Impact of Race and Social Disparities in the Bogalusa Heart Study.

Background And Objectives: Carotid intima-media thickness (c-IMT) is a measurement of atherosclerosis, a progressive disease that develops as early as childhood and has been linked with cognitive impairment and dementia in the elderly. However, the relationship between c-IMT and midlife cognitive function and the race and social disparities in this relationship remain unclear. We examined the association between c-IMT and cognitive function in midlife among Black and White participants from a semirural community-based cohort in Bogalusa, Louisiana.