The influence of cerebral small vessel disease on default mode network deactivation in mild cognitive impairment

Introduction Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) is thought to contribute to cognitive dysfunction in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). The underlying mechanisms, and more specifically, the effects of CSVD on brain functioning in MCI are incompletely understood. The objective of the present study was to examine the effects of CSVD on brain functioning, activation and deactivation, in patients with MCI using task-related functional MRI (fMRI). Methods We included 16 MCI patients with CSVD, 26 MCI patients without CSVD and 25 controls. All participants underwent a physical and neurological examination, neuropsychological testing, structural MRI, and fMRI during a graded working memory paradigm. Results MCI patients with and without CSVD had a similar neuropsychological profile and task performance during fMRI, but differed with respect to underlying (de)activation patterns. MCI patients with CSVD showed impaired deactivation in the precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex, a region known to be involved in the default mode network. In MCI patients without CSVD, brain activation depended on working memory load, as they showed relative 'hyperactivation' during vigilance, and 'hypoactivation' at a high working memory load condition in working memory related brain regions. Conclusions We present evidence that the potential underlying mechanism of CSVD affecting cognition in MCI is through network interference. The observed differences in brain activation and deactivation between MCI patients with and without CSVD, who had a similar 'clinical phenotype', support the view that, in patients with MCI, different types of pathology can contribute to cognitive impairment through different pathways

The Rotterdam Study: 2012 objectives and design update

The Rotterdam Study is a prospective cohort study ongoing since 1990 in the city of Rotterdam in The Netherlands. The study targets cardiovascular, endocrine, hepatic, neurological, ophthalmic, psychiatric, dermatological, oncological, and respiratory diseases. As of 2008, 14,926 subjects aged 45 years or over comprise the Rotterdam Study cohort. The findings of the Rotterdam Study have been presented in over a 1,000 research articles and reports (see www.erasmus-epidemiology.nl/rotterdamstudy). This article gives the rationale of the study and its design. It also presents a summary of the major findings and an update of the objectives and methods

Replication Data for: “The development of the Screening of Visual Complaints questionnaire for patients with neurodegenerative disorders: evaluation of psychometric features in a community sample”

The total dataset contains demographic information (age, sex, educational level), medical information (categorisation of neurological conditions, ophthalmologic conditions and psychiatric condition) and responses of participants on the questionnaires Screening Visual Complaints (SVC), Cerebral Visual Complaints questionnaire (CVC-q), National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire–25 (NEI-VFQ-25), Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-A (BRIEF-A), Questionnaire for Experiences of Attention Deficits (Fragebogen erlebter Defizite der Aufmerkzamkeit; FEDA), Depression Anxiety Stress Scale–21 (DASS-21) and the Structured Inventory for Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS) at the first assessment of the total sample. The test-retest dataset contains demographic information (age, sex, educational level), medical information (categorisation of neurological conditions, ophthalmologic conditions and psychiatric condition)and responses of participants on the questionnaires Screening Visual Complaints (SVC), the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-A (BRIEF-A) and the Structured Inventory for Malingered Symptomatology (SIMS) at the first assessment (time 1) and the second assessment (time 2). The study population consists of 1461 participants from the Dutch community of 18 years or older. Main variables: Screening Visual Complaints (SVC), Cerebral Visual Complaints questionnaire (CVC-q), National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire–25 (NEI-VFQ-25), Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-A (BRIEF-A), Questionnaire for Experiences of Attention Deficits (Fragebogen erlebter