Alzheimer Disease, Early Onset
Conditions
Brief summary
The study will investigate structural and functional characteristics of the brain of dementia patients compared to healthy controls in order to get a better insight into importance of early biomarkers for the diagnosis of Alzheimer's dementia. The methods for obtaining biomarkers incude magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) and electroencephalography (EEG), electrocardiography (ECG) and neurophyshological assessments. Special parameters are being studied that have already been shown to detect changes in the early stages of Alzheimer's dementia.
Interventions
OTHERNo Intervention
No Intervention
Sponsors
Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE)
Study design
Observational model
COHORT
Time perspective
CROSS_SECTIONAL
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
50 Years to 80 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Clinically diagnosed MCI patients and matched healthy controls
Exclusion criteria
* Metal in body and tatoos; * Other chronic systemic neurological, cardiologic, metabolic or musculo-skeletal diseases which have been proven to influence the outcome variables * Alcohol abuse * Colour blindness * Pregnancy * Surgery in the last 6 months * Uncorrected vision
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Locus Coeruleus (LC) Intensity | 15 minutes | LC-intensity can be assesed with specific MRI sequences (TSE MRI-Sequence (see Dordevic et al, 2017)) |
| Volume of brain regions | 30 minutes | VBM (voxel-based morphometry) |
| fNIRS-based change in oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin | 1 hour | In response to each task there is a hemodynamic response, which can be measured by fNIRS. In particular, fNIRS measures changes in blood oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin. |
| Event-related-potential (ERP) waveforms: negative deflections (N100, N300) and positive deflections (P100, P300) | 1 hour | Voltages generated in the brain structures in response to specific events (Event-related potentials (ERPs)) |
| Heart Rate Variability (HRV) | 1 hour | ECG-based variability measures in R-R intervals, both in rest abd during tasks |
| Score on CERAD-Plus | 30 minutes | Cognitive performance measure in points, with a higher score meaning better performance |
| Error-rate on Stroop-test | 10 minutes | Test of executive functions, higher error-rate means worse performance |
| Error-rate on N-Back-test | 10 minutes | Working memory test, higher error-rate means worse performance |
| Performance on verbal fluency test | 10 minutes | Test of verbal fluency, more words spoken means a better score |
Outcome results
None listed