5 research outputs found

    Structural brain differences between monolingual and multilingual patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease: Evidence for cognitive reserve

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    Two independent lines of research provide evidence that speaking more than one language may 1) contribute to increased grey matter in healthy younger and older adults and 2) delay cognitive symptoms in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or Alzheimer disease (AD). We examined cortical thickness and tissue density in monolingual and multilingual MCI and AD patients matched (within Diagnosis Groups) on demographic and cognitive variables. In medial temporal disease-related (DR) areas, we found higher tissue density in multilingual MCIs versus monolingual MCIs, but similar or lower tissue density in multilingual AD versus monolingual AD, a pattern consistent with cognitive reserve in AD. In areas related to language and cognitive control (LCC), both multilingual MCI and AD patients had thicker cortex than the monolinguals. Results were largely replicated in our native-born Canadian MCI participants, ruling out immigration as a potential confound. Finally, multilingual patients showed a correlation between cortical thickness in LCC regions and performance on episodic memory tasks. Given that multilinguals and monolinguals were matched on memory functioning, this suggests that increased gray matter in these regions may provide support to memory functioning. Our results suggest that being multilingual may contribute to increased gray matter in LCC areas and may also delay the cognitive effects of disease-related atrophy

    The Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia (COMPASS-ND) Study neuropsychology battery of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA): Design overview and initial validation

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    The Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia (COMPASS-ND) is an observational study of 1100+ participants from across the dementia spectrum. We describe the development and features of the Neuropsychological Research Battery, which assesses learning and memory, processing speed, attention, executive function, visuoperceptual processing, and language. We report preliminary results (Fourth Data Release) from 60 cognitively unimpaired (CU) older adults, 56 participants with normal cognition but subjective cognitive decline (SCD), 104 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 48 with Alzheimer’s dementia (AD). The tests were sensitive to performance differences between the diagnostic groups. Regression models indicated associations with age, education, and sex on multiple test scores. Future work will: (1) increase the educational diversity and sex balance of the participant cohorts, (2) determine the psychometric properties of the battery, (3) establish normative data from control participants, and (4) examine longitudinal data on individuals at risk for dementia and across the dementia spectrum. COMPASS-ND (Comprehensive Assessment of Neurodegeneration and Dementia) est une étude d'observation portant sur plus de 1,100 participants de l'ensemble du spectre des troubles neurocognitifs. Nous décrivons le développement et les caractéristiques de la batterie de recherche neuropsychologique, qui évalue l'apprentissage et la mémoire, la vitesse de traitement, l'attention, les fonctions exécutives, le traitement visuoperceptuel et le langage. Nous présentons les résultats préliminaires (quatrième publication des données) obtenus auprès de 60 personnes âgées sans trouble cognitif (CN), 56 participants ayant une cognition normale mais un déclin cognitif subjectif (SCD), 104 personnes atteintes d'un trouble cognitif léger (MCI) et 48 personnes atteintes de la maladie d'Alzheimer (AD). Les tests étaient sensibles aux différences de performance entre les groupes de diagnostic. Les modèles de régression ont indiqué des associations avec l'âge, l'éducation et le sexe sur les scores des tests multiples. Les travaux futurs viseront à (1) augmenter la diversité de l'éducation et l'équilibre entre les sexes dans les cohortes de participants, (2) déterminer les propriétés psychométriques de la batterie, (3) établir des données normatives à partir de contrôles, et (4) examiner les données longitudinales sur les individus à risque de troubles neurocognitifs et sur l'ensemble du spectre des troubles neurocognitifs
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