Results from the DELCODE study

Previous studies have demonstrated increased tau plasma levels in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD. Much less is known whether increased tau plasma levels can already be detected in the pre-MCI stage of subjective cognitive decline (SCD). In the present study we measured tau plasma levels in 111 SCD patients and 134 age- and gender-matched cognitively healthy controls participating in the DZNE (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases) longitudinal study on cognition and dementia (DELCODE). Tau plasma levels were measured using ultra-sensitive, single-molecule array (Simoa) technology. We found no significant different tau plasma levels in SCD (3.4 pg/ml) compared with healthy controls (3.6 pg/ml) after controlling for age, gender, and education (p = 0.137). In addition, tau plasma levels did not correlate with Aβ42 (r = 0.073; p = 0.634), tau (r = −0.179; p = 0.240), and p-tau181 (r = −0.208; p = 0.171) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels in a subgroup of 45 SCD patients with available CSF. In conclusion, plasma tau is not increased in SCD patients. In addition, the lack of correlation between tau in plasma and CSF in the examined cohort suggests that tau levels are affected by different factors in both biofluids

Results from the DELCODE study

Previous studies have demonstrated increased tau plasma levels in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD. Much less is known whether increased tau plasma levels can already be detected in the pre-MCI stage of subjective cognitive decline (SCD). In the present study we measured tau plasma levels in 111 SCD patients and 134 age- and gender-matched cognitively healthy controls participating in the DZNE (German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases) longitudinal study on cognition and dementia (DELCODE). Tau plasma levels were measured using ultra-sensitive, single-molecule array (Simoa) technology. We found no significant different tau plasma levels in SCD (3.4 pg/ml) compared with healthy controls (3.6 pg/ml) after controlling for age, gender, and education (p = 0.137). In addition, tau plasma levels did not correlate with Aβ42 (r = 0.073; p = 0.634), tau (r = −0.179; p = 0.240), and p-tau181 (r = −0.208; p = 0.171) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) levels in a subgroup of 45 SCD patients with available CSF. In conclusion, plasma tau is not increased in SCD patients. In addition, the lack of correlation between tau in plasma and CSF in the examined cohort suggests that tau levels are affected by different factors in both biofluids

Decreased body mass index in the preclinical stage of autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease

The relationship between body-mass index (BMI) and Alzheimer´s disease (AD) has been extensively investigated. However, BMI alterations in preclinical individuals with autosomal dominant AD (ADAD) have not yet been investigated. We analyzed cross-sectional data from 230 asymptomatic members of families with ADAD participating in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) study including 120 preclinical mutation carriers (MCs) and 110 asymptomatic non-carriers (NCs). Differences in BMI and their relation with cerebral amyloid load and episodic memory as a function of estimated years to symptom onset (EYO) were analyzed. Preclinical MCs showed significantly lower BMIs compared to NCs, starting 11.2 years before expected symptom onset. However, the BMI curves begun to diverge already at 17.8 years before expected symptom onset. Lower BMI in preclinical MCs was significantly associated with less years before estimated symptom onset, higher global Aβ brain burden, and with lower delayed total recall scores in the logical memory test. The study provides cross-sectional evidence that weight loss starts one to two decades before expected symptom onset of ADAD. Our findings point toward a link between the pathophysiology of ADAD and disturbance of weight control mechanisms. Longitudinal follow-up studies are warranted to investigate BMI changes over time

Resistance to autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease in an APOE3 Christchurch homozygote: a case report.

We identified a PSEN1 (presenilin 1) mutation carrier from the world's largest autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease kindred, who did not develop mild cognitive impairment until her seventies, three decades after the expected age of clinical onset. The individual had two copies of the APOE3 Christchurch (R136S) mutation, unusually high brain amyloid levels and limited tau and neurodegenerative measurements. Our findings have implications for the role of APOE in the pathogenesis, treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease

Serum neurofilament light chain levels are associated with white matter integrity in autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease

Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a protein that is selectively expressed in neurons. Increased levels of NfL measured in either cerebrospinal fluid or blood is thought to be a biomarker of neuronal damage in neurodegenerative diseases. However, there have been limited investigations relating NfL to the concurrent measures of white matter (WM) decline that it should reflect. White matter damage is a common feature of Alzheimer's disease. We hypothesized that serum levels of NfL would associate with WM lesion volume and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics cross-sectionally in 117 autosomal dominant mutation carriers (MC) compared to 84 non-carrier (NC) familial controls as well as in a subset (N = 41) of MC with longitudinal NfL and MRI data. In MC, elevated cross-sectional NfL was positively associated with WM hyperintensity lesion volume, mean diffusivity, radial diffusivity, and axial diffusivity and negatively with fractional anisotropy. Greater change in NfL levels in MC was associated with larger changes in fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, and radial diffusivity, all indicative of reduced WM integrity. There were no relationships with NfL in NC. Our results demonstrate that blood-based NfL levels reflect WM integrity and supports the view that blood levels of NfL are predictive of WM damage in the brain. This is a critical result in improving the interpretability of NfL as a marker of brain integrity, and for validating this emerging biomarker for future use in clinical and research settings across multiple neurodegenerative diseases

Tulevaisuuden vamuka : Varhaisiän musiikkikasvattajien työnkuva nyt ja tulevaisuudessa

Opinnäytetyössäni tutkin varhaisiän musiikkikasvattajien työnkuvaa ja sen monia muotoja tulevaisuudessa. Tutkin asiaa työllistymisen, työnkuvan, koulutuksen ja alan yleisten ilmiöiden kannalta. Samalla pohdin omaa työllistymistäni. Opinnäytetyöni perustana ovat haastattelut, jotka tehtiin keväällä 2017. Haastattelin neljää Metropolia Ammattikorkeakoulusta pääaineenaan varhaisiän musiikkikasvatus ja taiteen soveltava käyttö valmistunutta musiikkipedagogia heidän nykyisestä työnkuvastaan, työn parhaista puolista, työssä kohdatuista haasteista, koulutuksen suhteesta nykyiseen työnkuvaan sekä varhaisiän musiikkikasvattajien ja musiikkikasvatuksen tulevaisuudesta. Haastatteluiden lisäksi tutkin aiheeseen liittyvää tietoaineistoa eri näkökulmista. Opinnäytetyöni tulosten mukaan varhaisiän musiikkikasvatuksen suosio, arvostus ja tarve tulevat kasvamaan Suomessa. Työn sirpaloituminen eri musiikkioppilaitoksiin ja jopa eri kuntiin on yksi suurimmista varhaisiän musiikkikasvattajien tulevaisuuden haasteista. Erilaiset taiteen soveltavan käytön työt yleistyvät, ja yrittäjyys sekä musiikkikasvatuksen että taiteen soveltavan käytön alalla lisääntyy yhä. Pedagogisesti varhaisiän musiikkikasvattajat ovat tällä hetkellä sekä suomalaisessa musiikinopetuksessa että opetusalalla käynnissä olevaa pedagogista murrosta edellä. Haastattelutulosten ja tietoaineiston avulla olen luonut kuvaa varhaisiän musiikkikasvattajien työllistymisestä ja koko musiikin opetuksen alan tulevaisuudesta kattavasti. Uskon, että opinnäytetyöstäni on apua omaa työllistymistään pohtivalle varhaisiän musiikkikasvattajalle tai koulutukseen pyrkimistä pohtivalle.In my Bachelor’s thesis, I studied the future of early childhood music education and the future work field of early childhood music educators. I studied the subject from the viewpoint of employment opportunities, education and the phenomena taking place in the music education world. I base my thesis on an interview study that was conducted in the spring of 2017. I interviewed four early childhood music educators who had graduated from Metropolia University of Applied Sciences specializing in early childhood music education and community music. The interviews covered their work fields, accomplishments and challenges faced in early childhood music education and their opinions about the future of music education and music educators. In addition to the interviews, I studied the source materials from the viewpoint of the thesis. I also compared the state of the early childhood music educator’s education with the future and present challenges of the music education field. My thesis shows that early childhood music education’s popularity, appreciation and need will grow in the future. Early childhood music educator’s work field fragmenting to different employers and even different cities will be one of the biggest challenges. All kinds of community music jobs will increase exponentially. In both fields, entrepreneurship is going to be the source of income for most. Pedagogically early childhood education is on the top of the pedagogical development occurring in the school world. With the results of the interview study and source materials, I have managed to create a reliable glimpse to the future of early childhood music education and music education altogether. I believe that my Bachelor’s thesis will be helpful to early childhood music educators wondering about their future workfields or a student thinking of applying to study to become an early childhood music educator