MindCrowd-Expanded: An Online Multi-Domain Assessment of Cognitive Aging.

Background: Numerous factors, including some modifiable factors as well as demographic factors, are associated with risk for age-related cognitive impairment. Evaluating the complex interaction of these factors and their trajectories across the adult lifespan requires large sample sizes with diverse cohorts. Online research has the potential to overcome barriers to research participation and provide the statistical power required to examine individual differences in cognitive functions.

Participation of under-represented communities in an online cognitive ageing platform and predictors of willingness to be contacted for future research.

Background: Black and Hispanic communities are under-represented in cognitive ageing research. MindCrowd is an online platform that offers interactive cognitive games and facilitates research. We sought to assess participation in MindCrowd and willingness to be contacted for future studies by race, ethnicity and other demographic variables.

Neuroimaging and verbal memory assessment in healthy aging adults using a portable low-field MRI scanner and a web-based platform: results from a proof-of-concept population-based cross-section study.

Consumer wearables and health monitors, internet-based health and cognitive assessments, and at-home biosample (e.g., saliva and capillary blood) collection kits are increasingly used by public health researchers for large population-based studies without requiring intensive in-person visits.

Remote, Unsupervised Functional Motor Task Evaluation in Older Adults across the United States Using the MindCrowd Electronic Cohort.

COVID-19 has impacted the ability to evaluate motor function in older adults, as motor assessments typically require face-to-face interaction. One hundred seventy-seven older adults nationwide completed an unsupervised functional upper-extremity assessment at home. Data were compared to data from an independent sample of community-dwelling older adults (N = 250) assessed in lab.

Remote, unsupervised functional motor task evaluation in older adults across the United States using the MindCrowd electronic cohort.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the ability to evaluate motor function in older adults, as motor assessments typically require face-to-face interaction. This study tested whether motor function can be assessed at home. One hundred seventy-seven older adults nationwide (recruited through the MindCrowd electronic cohort) completed a brief functional upper-extremity assessment at home and unsupervised.

Transient ACE (Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme) Inhibition Suppresses Future Fibrogenic Capacity and Heterogeneity of Cardiac Fibroblast Subpopulations.

Transient ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibition in spontaneously hypertensive rats is known to protect against future injury-induced cardiac inflammation, fibrosis, and dysfunction; however, the mechanisms of protection have not been delineated. Here, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to test the hypothesis that transient ACE inhibitor treatment would induce a persistent shift in cardiac fibroblast subpopulations. Adult male spontaneously hypertensive rats (11 weeks old, hypertensive with cardiac hypertrophy) were treated for 2 weeks with an ACE inhibitor, enalapril (30 mg/kg per day, PO), or water (untreated spontaneously hypertensive rats) followed by a 2-week washout period (n=7/group).

Transcriptional profiling of multiple system atrophy cerebellar tissue highlights differences between the parkinsonian and cerebellar sub-types of the disease.

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare adult-onset neurodegenerative disease of unknown cause, with no effective therapeutic options, and no cure. Limited work to date has attempted to characterize the transcriptional changes associated with the disease, which presents as either predominating parkinsonian (MSA-P) or cerebellar (MSC-C) symptoms. We report here the results of RNA expression profiling of cerebellar white matter (CWM) tissue from two independent cohorts of MSA patients (n = 66) and healthy controls (HC; n = 66).

Association of Common Genetic Variants in the and Genes with Canine Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis in the West Highland White Terrier.

Canine idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (CIPF) is a chronic fibrotic lung disease that is observed at a higher frequency in the West Highland White Terrier dog breed (WHWT) and may have molecular pathological overlap with human lung fibrotic disease. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in the WHWT using whole genome sequencing (WGS) to discover genetic variants associated with CIPF. Saliva-derived DNA samples were sequenced using the Riptide DNA library prep kit.

ESHRD: deconvolution of brain homogenate RNA expression data to identify cell-type-specific alterations in Alzheimer's disease.

Objective: We describe herein a bioinformatics approach that leverages gene expression data from brain homogenates to derive cell-type specific differential expression results.

Results: We found that differentially expressed (DE) cell-specific genes were mostly identified as neuronal, microglial, or endothelial in origin. However, a large proportion (75.

Family history of Alzheimer's disease alters cognition and is modified by medical and genetic factors.

In humans, a first-degree family history of dementia (FH) is a well-documented risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD); however, the influence of FH on cognition across the lifespan is poorly understood. To address this issue, we developed an internet-based paired-associates learning (PAL) task and tested 59,571 participants between the ages of 18-85. FH was associated with lower PAL performance in both sexes under 65 years old.

Association of AEBP1 and NRN1 RNA expression with Alzheimer's disease and neurofibrillary tangle density in middle temporal gyrus.

We explored RNA expression changes in the middle temporal gyrus (MTG) of Alzheimer's Disease patients (AD) by RNA sequencing the whole transcriptome of 8 AD and 8 Non-Demented (ND) controls. We used three additional expression datasets from related brain regions to validate the findings. The results highlighted the upregulation of AEBP1 and downregulation of NRN1 in AD, as well as their association with Braak staging and neurofibrillary tangles density.

Associations of Gene Variants With Superior Memory in SuperAgers.

: SuperAgers are adults age 80+ with episodic memory performance that is as good as that of average middle-aged adults. Understanding the biological determinants of SuperAging may have relevance to preventing age-related cognitive decline and dementia. This study aimed to identify associations between genetic variations and the SuperAging phenotype using Whole Exome Sequencing (WES).