Design and validation of the 1-week memory battery for assessing episodic memory and accelerated long-term forgetting in cognitively unimpaired subjects

Subtle decline in memory is thought to arise in the preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, detecting these initial cognitive difficulties cross-sectionally has been challenging, and the exact nature of the decline is still debated. Accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) has been recently suggested as one of the earliest and most sensitive indicators of memory dysfunction in subjects at risk of developing AD. The objective of this study was to design and validate the 1-week memory battery (1WMB) for assessing episodic memory and ALF in cognitively unimpaired individuals.The 1WMB is unique in that it assesses multimodal memory and measures recall at both short delay (20 min) and at long term (1 week). Forty-five cognitively unimpaired subjects were assessed with 1WMB and standardized neuropsychological tests. Subjective cognitive decline (SCD), levels of anxiety and depression, and cognitive reserve were also measured.The tests of 1WMB showed a high internal consistency, and concurrent validity was observed with standard tests of episodic memory and executive functions. The analysis revealed a greater loss of information at 1 week compared to short-term forgetting (20 min). Performance in the 1WMB was affected by age and educational level, but was not associated with levels of anxiety and depression. Unlike standard tests, performance in the 1WMB correlated with measures of SCD.Our findings indicate that the 1WMB has good psychometric properties, and future studies are needed to explore its potential usefulness to assess cognitively unimpaired subjects at increased risk of developing AD. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

Preliminary results for measurement and classification of overnight wandering by dementia patient using multi-sensors

The measurement and detection of overnight wandering is a significant issue for dementia patients and their caregivers such as a spouse. The wandering places the patient at risk of injury or even death if they fall or leave their residence without being detected. While it also causes stress and reduced sleep for the caregiver as they try to remain alert to the actions of their partner. This paper presents initial data for the first participant from an ongoing study of dementia patients where a wander detection and diversion system based on low-cost commercial sensors has been deployed into the residence. The paper shows that over a 3-week period, the analysis and classification of the sensor data is able to measure the behavior of the patient. In this period, the patient only used the washroom overnight and did not wander into other parts of the residence. These early results show that an off the shelf system targeted for residential security and home automation applications based on low-cost sensors supported with automated analysis and classification has the potential to be used to assist caregivers and dementia patients

Accelerated long-term forgetting over three months in asymptomatic APOE ɛ4 carriers

Altres ajuts: Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER); Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI).Accelerated long-term forgetting (ALF) refers to a rapid loss of information over days or weeks despite normal acquisition/encoding. Notwithstanding its potential relevance as a presymptomatic marker of cognitive dysfunction, no study has addressed the relationship between ALF and Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers. We examined ALF in APOE ɛ4 carriers versus noncarriers, and its relationships with AD cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers. We found ALF over three months in APOE ɛ4 carriers (F(1,19) = 5.60; P < 0.05; Cohen's d = 1.08), and this performance was associated with abnormal levels of the CSF Aβ/ptau ratio (r = −.614; P < 0.01). Our findings indicate that ALF is detectable in at-risk individuals, and that there is a relationship between ALF and the pathophysiological processes underlying AD