Neuropsychological profile of Alzheimer's disease based on amyloid biomarker findings results from a South American cohort.

Objective: Increased life expectancy and exponential growth of adults suffering from Alzheimer's disease (AD) worldwide, has led to biomarkers incorporation for diagnosis in early stages. Use of neuropsychological testing remains limited. This study aimed to identify which neuropsychological tests best indicated underlying AD pathophysiology.Methods: One hundred and forty-one patients with MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) were studied. A neuropsychological test battery based on the Uniform Data Set (UDS) from the Alzheimer's Disease Centers program of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) was performed and amyloid markers recorded; according to presence or absence of amyloid identified by positive PIB-PET findings, or low CSF Aβ42 levels, patients were separated into MCI amyloid-(n:58) and MCI amyloid + (n = 83) cases.Results: Statistical differences were found in all memory tests between groups. Delayed recall score at thirty minutes on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) was the best predictor of amyloid pathology presence (AUC 0.68), followed by AVLT total learning (AUC 0.66) and AVLT Recognition (AUC 0.59) scores, providing useful cut off values in the clinical setting.Conclusions: Use of neuropsychological testing, specifically AVLT scores with cutoff values, contributed to the correct diagnosis of MCI due to AD in this SouthAmerican cohor

Prognostic value of atn alzheimer biomarkers: 60-month follow-up results from the argentine alzheimer's disease neuroimaging initiative

Purpose: To describe results of the Amyloid, Tau, Neurodegeneration (ATN) research framework classification in the Argentine-Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (arg-ADNI) cohort. Methods: Twenty-three patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 12 dementia of Alzheimer's type (DAT), and 14 normal controls were studied following the ADNI2 protocol. Patients were categorized according to presence or absence of the biomarkers for amyloid beta (Aβ; A: amyloid positron emission tomography [PET] scan or cerebrospinal fluid [CSF] Aβ42), tau (T: CSF phosphorylated-tau), and neurodegeneration (N: CSF total-tau, fluorodeoxyglucose [FDG]-PET scan, or structural magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] scan). Results: A+T+N+ biomarker profile was identified at baseline in 91% of mild dementia patients, 20% of early MCI patients, 46% of late MCI patients, and 14% of control subjects. Suspected non-AD pathophysiology (SNAP, A-T-N+) was found in 8% of mild dementia, 20% of early MCI, 15% of late MCI, and 7% of control subjects. Conversion rates to dementia after 5-year follow-up were 85% in A+T+N+ MCI patients and 50% in A-T-N+ patients. Conclusions: We present initial 5-year follow-up results of a regional ADNI based on AD biomarkers and the ATN classification

Spanish Norms for Mini-SEA (Mini Social Cognition and Emotional Assessment) in adults in Buenos Aires

Introducción y objetivos: El Mini-SEA es una evaluación cognitiva rápida para estudiar la cognición social. Consiste en una versión de la Prueba de faux pas y una prueba de reconocimiento emocional. El objetivo deltrabajo fue obtener los primeros valores normativos del Mini-SEA de habla hispana. Material y métodos: Sereclutaron 64 voluntarios sanos que fueron evaluados con el Mini-SEA por neuropsicólogos especializados dedos centros especializados en Buenos Aires. Resultados: La media (M) total fue de 25+/- 4. La M del Score delfaux pas fue de 12,5+/- 2,4 y del Score del Reconocimiento Emocional fue 12,8+/- 1,5. Se dividió la muestraen 4 grupos etarios: Grupo 1 (<50 años), Grupo 2 (50-59 años), Grupo 3 (60-69 años) y Grupo 4 (más de 70años). Se hallaron diferencias en el continuo de la edad en el puntaje del Reconocimiento Emocional entre elgrupo 1 y 4 (p<0,05) y entre el grupo 3 y el 4 (p<0,01), no así en la prueba modificada del faux pas. Conclusión:Este estudio presenta los primeros valores normativos del Mini-SEA para una población de habla hispana. Esuna prueba rápida y fácil y permite estudiar la cognición social de forma adecuada y precisa sobre todo enestadios prodrómicos de enfermedades neurodegenerativas.Introduction and objective: The Mini-SEA is a quick and brief cognitive assessment test developed to study social cognition. It consists of a modified version of the faux pas Test and an emotional recognition test based on Ekman’s faces. The objective of this work was to obtain the first Spanish Speaking norms for the Mini-SEA test. Material and methods: 64 healthy volunteers, between 35 and 80 years old, were recruited and evaluated with the Mini-SEA by specialized neuropsychologists from the Cities of Buenos Aires and La Plata, both in the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Results: The total mean (M) of the Mini-SEA was 25 +/- 4. The M of the faux pas Score was 12.5 +/- 2.4 and the M of the Emotional Recognition Score was 12.8 +/- 1.5. The sample was divided into 4 age groups: Group 1 (<50 years), Group 2 (50-59 years), Group 3 (60-69 years) and Group 4 (more than 70 years). Differences were found in the age continuum in the Emotional Recognition score between group 1 and 4 (p <0.05) and between group 3 and 4 (p <0.01), but not in the Faux Pas Score. Conclusion:This study presents the first normative values of the Mini-SEA Social Cognition test for a Spanish-speaking population. The Mini-SEA, being a quick and easy to administer test, allows the study of social cognition in an adequate and precise way, especially in prodromal stages of neurodegenerative disease.Fil: Clarens, Maria Florencia. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Crivelli, Lucía. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Martin, Maria Eugenia. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Fernández, Rodrigo Sebastián. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; Argentina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Canyazo, Carlos. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Arruabarrena, Micaela. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Tabernero, Maria Eugenia. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; ArgentinaFil: Cervino, Cecilia. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Varela, Yanina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Prestupa, Romina Vanesa. Instituto de Neurociencias Alexander Luria; Argentina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Pereyra, Lucrecia. Instituto de Neurociencias Alexander Luria; ArgentinaFil: Rossi, Francina. Instituto de Neurociencias Alexander Luria; ArgentinaFil: Sarasola, Ruben. Instituto de Neurociencias Alexander Luria; ArgentinaFil: Allegri, Ricardo Francisco. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; Argentin

The impact of culture on neuropsychological performance: A global social cognition study across 12 countries

AbstractBackgroundDecades of researches aiming to unveil truths about human neuropsychology may have instead unveil facts appropriate to only a fraction of the world's population: those living in western educated rich democratic nations (Muthukrishna et al., 2020 Psych Sci). So far, most studies were conducted as if education and cultural assumptions on which neuropsychology is based were universals and applied everywhere in the world. The importance given to sociological or cultural factors is thus still relatively ignored. With the growth of international clinical studies on dementia, we believe that documenting the potential inter‐cultural differences at stake in a common neuropsychological assessment is an essential topic. This study thus aimed to explore these potential variations in two classical tasks used in neuropsychology that are composing the mini‐SEA (Bertoux et al., 2012 JNNP), i.e. a reduced version of the well‐known Ekman faces (FER), where one has to recognize facial emotions, and a modified version of the Faux Pas test (mFP), where one has to detect and explain social faux.MethodThe data of 573 control participants were collected through the Social Cognition & FTLD Network, an international consortium investigating social cognitive changes in dementia covering 3 continents (18 research centres in 12 countries). Impact of demographic factors and the effect of countries on performance (mini‐SEA, FER, mFP) were explored through linear mixed‐effects models.ResultAge, education and gender were found to significantly impact the performance of the mini‐SEA subtests. Significant and important variations across the countries were also retrieved, with England having the highest performance for all scores. When controlling for demographical factors, differences within countries explained between 14% (mFP) and 24% (FER) of the variance at the mini‐SEA. These variations were not explained by any economical or sociological metrics.ConclusionImportant variations of performance were observed across the 12 countries of the consortium, showing how cultural differences may critically impact neuropsychological performance in international studies

Does Culture Shape Our Understanding of Others’ Thoughts and Emotions? An Investigation Across 12 Countries

Q2Q2Measures of social cognition have now become central in neuropsychology, being essential for early and differential diagnoses, follow-up, and rehabilitation in a wide range of conditions. With the scientific world becoming increasingly interconnected, international neuropsychological and medical collaborations are burgeoning to tackle the global challenges that are mental health conditions. These initiatives commonly merge data across a diversity of populations and countries, while ignoring their specificity. Objective: In this context, we aimed to estimate the influence of participants’ nationality on social cognition evaluation. This issue is of particular importance as most cognitive tasks are developed in highly specific contexts, not representative of that encountered by the world’s population. Method: Through a large international study across 18 sites, neuropsychologists assessed core aspects of social cognition in 587 participants from 12 countries using traditional and widely used tasks. Results: Age, gender, and education were found to impact measures of mentalizing and emotion recognition. After controlling for these factors, differences between countries accounted for more than 20% of the variance on both measures. Importantly, it was possible to isolate participants’ nationality from potential translation issues, which classically constitute a major limitation. Conclusions: Overall, these findings highlight the need for important methodological shifts to better represent social cognition in both fundamental research and clinical practice, especially within emerging international networks and consortia.https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9422-3579https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6529-7077Revista Internacional - IndexadaA2N

Neuropsychological profile of Alzheimer’s disease based on amyloid biomarker findings results from a South American cohort

Objective: Increased life expectancy and exponential growth of adults suffering from Alzheimer’s disease (AD) worldwide, has led to biomarkers incorporation for diagnosis in early stages. Use of neuropsychological testing remains limited. This study aimed to identify which neuropsychological tests best indicated underlying AD pathophysiology. Methods: One hundred and forty-one patients with MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) were studied. A neuropsychological test battery based on the Uniform Data Set (UDS) from the Alzheimer’s Disease Centers program of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) was performed and amyloid markers recorded; according to presence or absence of amyloid identified by positive PIB-PET findings, or low CSF Aβ42 levels, patients were separated into MCI amyloid–(n:58) and MCI amyloid + (n = 83) cases. Results: Statistical differences were found in all memory tests between groups. Delayed recall score at thirty minutes on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) was the best predictor of amyloid pathology presence (AUC 0.68), followed by AVLT total learning (AUC 0.66) and AVLT Recognition (AUC 0.59) scores, providing useful cut off values in the clinical setting. Conclusions: Use of neuropsychological testing, specifically AVLT scores with cutoff values, contributed to the correct diagnosis of MCI due to AD in this SouthAmerican cohort.Fil: Clarens, Maria Florencia. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Crivelli, Lucia. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Calandri, Ismael. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Chrem Méndez, Patricio. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Martin, María Eugenia. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Russo, María Julieta. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Campos, Jorge. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Surace, Ezequiel Ignacio. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Vázquez, Silvia. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Sevlever, Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; ArgentinaFil: Allegri, Ricardo Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Fundación para la Lucha contra las Enfermedades Neurológicas de la Infancia; Argentin