Additional file 2: Figure S1. of Associations of Bcl-2 rs956572 genotype groups in the structural covariance network in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease

Structural covariance networks from four seed regions in GG, GA, and A homozygotes. According to the case numbers, the actual T value in AA was 5.529, GA = 4.924, and GG = 6.4612. (BMP 7288 kb

Additional file 1: of Associations of Bcl-2 rs956572 genotype groups in the structural covariance network in early-stage Alzheimer’s disease

Supplementary Tables S1–S13. (DOCX 67 kb

Prefrontal Lobe Brain Reserve Capacity with Resistance to Higher Global Amyloid Load and White Matter Hyperintensity Burden in Mild Stage Alzheimer’s Disease

<div><p>Background</p><p>Amyloid deposition and white matter lesions (WMLs) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are both considered clinically significant while a larger brain volume is thought to provide greater brain reserve (BR) against these pathological effects. This study identified the topography showing BR in patients with mild AD and explored the clinical balances among BR, amyloid, and WMLs burden.</p><p>Methods</p><p>Thirty patients with AD were enrolled, and AV-45 positron emission tomography was conducted to measure the regional standardized uptake value ratio (SUVr) in 8 cortical volumes-of- interests (VOIs). The quantitative WMLs burden was measured from magnetic resonance imaging while the normalized VOIs volumes represented BR in this study. The cognitive test represented major clinical correlates.</p><p>Results</p><p>Significant correlations between the prefrontal volume and global (r = 0.470, p = 0.024), but not regional (r = 0.264, p = 0.223) AV-45 SUVr were found. AD patients having larger regional volume in the superior- (r = 0.572, p = 0.004), superior medial- (r = 0.443, p = 0.034), and middle-prefrontal (r = 0.448, p = 0.032) regions had higher global AV-45 SUVr. For global WML loads, the prefrontal (r = -0.458, p = 0.019) and hippocampal volume (r = -0.469, p = 0.016) showed significant correlations while the prefrontal (r = -0.417, p = 0.043) or hippocampal volume (r = -0.422, p = 0.04) also predicted better composite memory scores. There were no interactions between amyloid SUVr and WML loads on the prefrontal volume.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>BR of the prefrontal region might modulate the adverse global pathological burden caused by amyloid deposition. While prefrontal volume positively associated with hippocampal volume, WMLs had an adverse impact on the hippocampal volume that predicts memory performance in mild stage AD.</p></div

Development and validation of a dementia screening tool for primary care in Taiwan: Brain Health Test

<div><p>Objectives</p><p>To develop a simple dementia screening tool to assist primary care physicians in identifying patients with cognitive impairment among subjects with memory complaints or at a high risk for dementia.</p><p>Design</p><p>The Brain Health Test (BHT) was developed by several experienced neurologists, psychiatrists, and clinical psychologists in the Taiwan Dementia Society. Validation of the BHT was conducted in the memory clinics of various levels of hospitals in Taiwan.</p><p>Participants</p><p>All dementia patients at the memory clinics who met the inclusion criteria of age greater or equal to 50 years were enrolled. Besides the BHT, the Mini-Mental State Examination and Clinical Dementia Rating were used to evaluate the cognition state of the patients and the severity of dementia.</p><p>Results</p><p>The BHT includes two parts: a risk evaluation and a cognitive test (BHT-cog). Self or informants reports of memory decline or needing help from others to manage money or medications were significantly associated with cognitive impairment. Among the risk factors evaluated in the BHT, a total risk score greater or equal to 8 was defined as a high risk for dementia. The total score for the finalized BHT-cog was 16. When the cutoff value for the BHT-cog was set to 10 for differentiating dementia and a normal mental state, the sensitivity was 91.5%, the specificity was 87.3%, the positive predictive value was 94.8%, and the negative predictive value was 80.1% The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve between dementia and healthy subjects was 0.958 (95% CI = 0.941–0.975).</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>The BHT is a simple tool that may be useful in primary care settings to identify high-risk patients to target for cognitive screening.</p></div

Illustration of automatic quantification of 3D white matter (WM) lesion burden.

<p>(1) Individual T1-weighted image were registered to the corresponding FLAIR images using a 12 degrees of freedom affine transformation. (2) To obtain the transformation matrix, the coregistered T1-weighted images were registered to the averaged customized group T1 template in MNI space. (3) The inverse transformation matrix from step 2 was applied to the AAL template to generate corresponding AAL volumes in each individual's 3D T1WI native space for later calculation of normalized 3D WM volume. (4) WM volume of interest (VOI) on FLAIR sequences (5) Transfer the white matter volume of interest to the corresponding T1 image. (6) 3D WM volume constructions.</p

Partial correlations between cortical volume and GM AV-45 SUVr in 30 patients.

<p>Partial correlations between cortical volume and GM AV-45 SUVr in 30 patients.</p

General characteristics of the Alzheimer's disease patients.

<p>General characteristics of the Alzheimer's disease patients.</p

Prefrontal regions showing brain reserve to amyloid burden or white matter lesion loads.

<p>Prefrontal regions showing brain reserve to amyloid burden or white matter lesion loads.</p

Model of prefrontal brain reserve with related regional volumes, white matter lesions and amyloid pathological load.

<p>Model of prefrontal brain reserve with related regional volumes, white matter lesions and amyloid pathological load.</p

The characteristics of the three groups studied: healthy, MCI, and dementia subjects.

<p>The characteristics of the three groups studied: healthy, MCI, and dementia subjects.</p