Dementia

Background: About 5 million adults in the U.S. have Alzheimer s disease or another adult-onset neurodegenerative disorder. Many studies have found that inflammation in the brain contributes to these diseases. Researchers want to find a better way to measure this inflammation. Objective: To learn whether COX-1 and/or COX-2 is elevated in the brains of individuals with neurodegenerative brain disease compared to healthy volunteers. Eligibility: Adults age 18 years and older in good general health who have an adult-onset neurodegenerative dementia, such as AD, FTD, corticobasal syndrome, Huntington s disease, or MCI, ALS and healthy adult volunteers enrolled in protocols 01-M-0254 or 17-M-0181. Design: Participants will be screened with medical history, physical exam with vital signs, and lab tests. They will have a neuropsychological testing. Their heart function will be measured. Participants will have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan. The MRI scanner is a metal tube surrounded by a strong magnetic field. Participants will lie on a table that slides in and out of the tube. The machine makes noise. Participants will get earplugs. Participants will have 2 PET scans. They will be injected with the study drugs through an intravenous catheter placed in an arm vein. The PET scanner is shaped like a doughnut. Participants will lie on a bed that slides in and out of the scanner. A plastic mask will be molded to their head to keep them from moving. A thin plastic tube will be put into an artery at the wrist or elbow crease area. This will be used to draw blood during the scan. Participants will have 2-5 study visits. Participation lasts 1 week to 4 months, depending on scheduling.

The goal of this National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stage 1a study is to develop and pilot test a research- and community-informed financial counseling and advocacy (FCA) intervention for dementia family caregivers in early and middle adulthood. The main question it aims to answer is: Is a research- and community-informed financial counseling and advocacy intervention usable, feasible and acceptable for dementia family caregivers in early and middle adulthood? Participants will engage in a four-week single group financial counseling and advocacy intervention and complete pre- and post-intervention measures addressing financial well-being, caregiver strain, workplace productivity, and flourishing along with usability, acceptability, and feasibility measures.

The goal of this observational study is to learn about the ability of a point risk score prediction model, developed using electronic medical record data, to predict the risk of progression from geriatric depression to dementia in older Chinese adults. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does a higher point risk score increase the risk of developing dementia in older adults with depression? What is the accuracy of the point risk score prediction model in identifying individuals at high risk of dementia among older adults with depression? Participants will receive their usual medical care as they normally would. No new treatments, tests, or procedures will be performed specifically for this study. The research team will collect data from their electronic medical records, including depression diagnoses, dementia diagnoses, comorbidities, medication records, and follow-up information. The point risk score will be calculated based on these routinely collected clinical data.

Working memory helps us hold information for a short time so one can think and make decisions. It keeps thoughts on track. As one gets older, working memory gets weaker. In people with dementia, it gets much worse, making it harder to talk with others, follow directions, or remember things like shopping lists. This may happen because brain waves that support working memory fall out of sync. Researchers can see these brain waves using a test called EEG. In this study, the investigators will try to get these brain waves back in sync using a safe, non-invasive form of brain stimulation called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and will time it to each person's brain waves to make it more effective. The goal is to improve working memory in people with dementia. If successful, dementia patients may be able to be more independent taking pressure off their families.

The main purpose of this study is to determine if participants who previously took donanemab get clinical benefit when they receive annual doses. For each participant, the study will last up to 2.5 years and will include 6 visits.

This is a human clinical study involving the isolation of autologous bone marrow derived stem cells (BMSC) and transfer to the vascular system and inferior 1/3 of the nasal passages in order to determine if such a treatment will provide improvement in neurologic function for patients with certain neurologic conditions. http://mdstemcells.com/nest/

Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia, is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by cognitive decline, including impaired learning ability, memory loss, and behavioral disturbances. According to surveys conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan, the prevalence of dementia among individuals aged 65 years and older was estimated at 7.86% in 2018, affecting more than 280,000 individuals, and is projected to approach 900,000 by 2065, resulting in substantial medical, social, and economic burdens. Current pharmacological treatments provide only limited symptomatic benefits and may be associated with adverse effects. Therefore, safe and effective non-pharmacological interventions that may support cognitive function and reduce caregiver burden are urgently needed. Experimental studies suggest that far-infrared (FIR) irradiation may enhance mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation, increase ATP production, and promote microglial amyloid-β clearance, which may help delay the progression of Alzheimer's disease. This trial aims to investigate the safety and effects of far-infrared (FIR) therapy on cognitive function in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The findings may support the clinical application of FIR therapy as a non-pharmacological intervention to improve cognitive function and quality of life, reduce medication burden and treatment-related side effects, lessen caregiver burden, delay institutionalization, and reduce the social and economic burden associated with Alzheimer's disease.

This study seeks to evaluate the utility and efficacy of the Non-Contact Sleep Quality Monitor System when used to monitor the sleep quality of individuals living in long-term care (LTC) with either Alzheimer's Disease (AD) or Alzheimer's Disease Related Dementia (ADRD). This before-after comparison trial will be conducted in several LTC facilities to evaluate the effect access to System Sleep Quality Data has on documentation of sleep disorders or treatments and sleep quality change over time for AD/ADRD participants in the intervention group as compared to the control group. All subjects will undergo sleep quality monitoring for 4-weeks. At the end of the first 2-weeks, research staff and LTC facility staff and medical providers will receive access to sleep monitoring data. We hypothesize that when real-time System Sleep Data is shared with LTC staff or healthcare providers, that sleep disturbances will be more readily detected, leading to timelier, better tailored treatment interventions for sleep disturbances, thereby improving sleep quality and decreasing daytime physical inactivity.

Background: There are two basic types of movement disorders. Some cause excessive movement, some cause slowness or lack of movement. Some of these are caused by mutations in genes. On the other hand, dementia is a condition of declining mental abilities, especially memory. Dementia can occur at any age but becomes more frequent with age. Researchers want to study the genes of families with a history of movement disorders or dementia. They hope to find a genetic cause of these disorders. This can help them better understand and treat the diseases. This study will not be limited to a particular disorder, but will study all movement disorders or dementias in general. This study will perform genetic testing to identify the genetic causes of movement disorders and dementia. Today, genetic testing can be done to analyze multiple genes at the same time. This increases the chances of finding the genetic cause of movement disorders and dementias. Objectives: To learn more about movement disorders and dementia, their causes, and treatments. Eligibility: Adults and children with a movement disorder or dementia, and their family members. Healthy volunteers. Design: Participants will be screened with medical history and blood tests. Some will have physical exam. Participants will give a blood sample by a needle in the arm. This can be done at the clinic, by their own doctor, or at home. Alternatively, a saliva sample may be provided if a blood sample cannot be obtained. Participants can opt to send an extra blood sample to a repository for future study. Genetic test will be done on these samples. The samples will be coded. The key to the code will remain at NIA. Only NIA investigators will have access to the code key. Participants can request to receive results of the tests. Participation is generally a single visit. Participants may be called back for extra ...

Previous research demonstrates that 1) adherence to a DASH dietary pattern and diets low in certain UPFs are linked to lower likelihood of experiencing cognitive impairments in later life (Seago et al., 2025a, 2025b), that 2) engagement in cooking is linked to healthier eating, reduced UPF consumption, and higher food self-efficacy (Lahne et al., 2017), and 3) that cooking activity itself in midlife is associated with reduced incidence of dementia (Tani et al., 2026). There may be multiple pathways through which cooking engagement facilitates healthier cognitive aging- including the benefits of healthier meals on cardiometabolic and neural health, but also the role of cooking as a cognitively-engaging activity - one that has been identified as a potential contributor to cognitive reserve during aging. While at least one computerized cognitive training program is based on cooking activities and has demonstrated improvements to untrained EF processes in older adults, no intervention has used actual cooking as a form of cognitive training. Part of the promise of such an intervention is that this sort of activity, while still engaging EF processes in a way that might lead to generalizable improvements, is much closer to real-world instrumental activities of daily living and may reinforce consumption of a brain- and cardiometabolic- health promoting dietary pattern. This pilot study involves a randomized controlled trial of a behavioral change intervention to promote a healthy diet by increasing cooking self-efficacy (agency), and for this study, cooking self-efficacy is the primary focus.

The investigators aim to support care partner's well-being and satisfaction with VA care and decrease their work burden by offering extra support from a trained Community Health Worker who will help connect the care partner to helpful resources in their communities and in the VA. The investigators also hope to help Veterans well-being and satisfaction with VA care by supporting their care partner more sufficiently allowing the care partner to focus on caregiving tasks.

The overarching goal of this study is to pilot an intervention in which older adults with mild cognitive impairment and dementia and the older adult's care partners are identified in primary care and provided with educational materials through the patient portal to engage the participant in deprescribing. The multicomponent intervention, e-Align, includes delivery of educational information through the patient portal, and a pharmacist-led intervention to align medications with patient and care partner goals and reduce use of central nervous system (CNS) potentially inappropriate medicines (PIM). This work will establish the preliminary data, methods, and partnerships to undertake a multisite embedded pragmatic clinical trial. The resulting triadic-based behavioral intervention will promote patient and care partner engagement, and foster care that aligns with patients' values, and promote improved health and well-being outcomes for people with cognitive impairment and the patient's care partners through deprescribing.

Care partners of people living with dementia often experience ongoing stress and unmet support needs. This study evaluates the feasibility of a low-intensity, supportive education and resource intervention for care partners who previously participated in an observational study. Participants complete a baseline phone interview and a short stress journaling activity, followed by a six-week series of automated educational and supportive messages delivered by text message or email. Participants may also take part in an optional peer support focus group. The study examines caregiver stress, resilience, engagement with resources, and participant feedback to inform future caregiver support interventions.

Over the next 30 years, more than 10 million persons living with dementia in the United States will receive care at home from an unpaid and untrained family caregiver. At home care is preferred by caregivers and persons with dementia alike, but increases the caregiver's risk of insomnia and related negative health outcomes, including depression, anxiety, cognitive disturbances and poor quality of life. Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is a highly effective and established evidence based treatment for adults of all ages. Although relatively understudied in dementia caregivers, the research by our group and others suggests CBT-I is also efficacious in caregivers. Our team developed a brief (4 session) CBT-I protocol specifically adapted for dementia caregivers (CBT-I) and has shown in person and remote (i.e. telehealth) delivery of this protocol significantly reduces insomnia symptoms and improves mood (moderate to large effects). Given demands on caregivers' time and limited availability of trained CBT-I providers, a web-based version of CBT-I (WebCBT-I; the online treatment will be called NiteCAPP) is needed to increase the accessibility of this efficacious treatment. WebCBT-I will allow for flexible at home scheduling, and the skills needed to monitor caregiver treatment progress can be quickly and efficiently taught to healthcare providers. The overarching goal of this project is to develop and test WebCBT-I in caregivers of persons with dementia. Objectives 1. To examine the clinical and health characteristics, including sleep, pain, fatigue, cognitive abilities, and cardiovascular health in dementia caregivers with insomnia. 2. To examine changes in the primary clinical outcomes, including complaints of poor sleep, and fatigue. 3. To examine changes in the secondary clinical outcomes, including mood, daytime functioning, cognitive functioning, and cardiovascular health. 4. To examine the mechanistic variables, including arousal (heart rate variability, HRV).

This study aims to provide mechanistic insights into how group drumming as a music-based intervention (MBI) affects pain responses and nociceptive function in individuals with Alzheimer's Disease (AD), mild dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and brain activity will be measured during communal drumming with their dyadic partners and others. Brain activity, blood pressure, cognitive abilities, blood hormone levels, and static and dynamic pain will also be measured during sessions pre and post the 8-week community drum circle. Investigators will leverage various measurement techniques including, but not limited to, electroencephalography (EEG), quantitative sensory testing (QST), behavioral, surveys, and physiological monitoring to study the impact of group drumming on pain and brain activity in AD and inter-dyad synchrony.

The Human Observatory Study is a prospective observational and ecological surveillance study building a continuously-updating world model for human health, disease, and death at the individual and population level. Individual multi-system clinical data from enrolled participants are linked to a continuously-ingested ecological data infrastructure spanning environmental exposures, social determinants, genealogical and family history records, mortality data, and population health databases at geographic resolutions from home address to global scale and beyond. The resulting model generates individual screening recommendations informed by population-level causal estimates, and population-level causal forecasts anchored by present-timepoint individual clinical biology. Thus creating a feedback architecture designed to improve both simultaneously.

The 100-Year Human Aging Study is a prospective, pragmatic, observational trial enrolling participants across fixed and mobile clinical sites to undergo comprehensive multi-system health screening and longitudinal follow-up until death. Participants are followed to determine whether measurements taken at enrollment and repeated across the lifespan - individually and in combination - predict all-cause mortality, cause-specific mortality, incident serious disease, and functional disability. The study is designed to generate the surrogate endpoint validation data that longevity medicine currently lacks.

The goal of this experimental multicentric intervention study is to validate, in Italian, the dynamic Neurocognitive Adaptation (dNA) Scale, which has already been validated in English, among a healthy elderly population (aged 65 and older) residing in Italy and patients with dementia or Alzheimer's Disease. dNA is a questionnaire designed to assess both current and past levels of engagement in physical, cognitive, creative, and social activities. The study aims to recruit a total of 265 participants with mild cognitive impairment, subjective memory complaints, or dementia. These participants will be distributed among the 8 recruitment centers. Neuropsychological data, subjective measures, and MRI data will be collected and analyzed to address the following research questions: 1) Is there a positive correlation between scores on the dNA Scale and cognitive efficiency, as reflected in neuropsychological measures, such as episodic memory and executive functions? 2) Is there a correlation between dNA scores and improved functional connectivity within neural networks, such as the Default Network (DN)? Participants recruited at the participating clinical centers will undergo: * A clinical interview, during which demographic and medical history information will be collected. The dNA Scale will be administered, along with a questionnaire assessing adherence to dietary habits typical of a Mediterranean diet (14-Item Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener; MEDAS). * A neuropsychological assessment, aimed at evaluating general cognitive function with a particular focus on episodic memory and executive functions. The following tests will be administered: Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) or, alternatively, Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA); Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT); Trial Making Test (TMT) Form B; Digit Span Forward and Backward (WAIS or WAIS-III); and the Stroop Test. * Self-report questionnaires designed to assess depressive symptoms using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and anxiety symptoms using the Geriatric Anxiety Scale (GAS) (or alternatively the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, STAI). Finally, the Cognitive Reserve Index Questionnaire will be administered to estimate Cognitive Reserve (CRIq). * Where available, MRI data previously acquired for clinical or diagnostic purposes will be included in the study and analyzed by the principal investigator.

The current study aims to examine the benefits of an education/support group program for individuals with progressive aphasia (caused by various etiologies, diagnoses) and their carepartners. The current study utilizes pre-, post-treatment, and follow-up assessments to measure effects of a psychoeducational support group and an implementation/communication skills training phase on measures of psychosocial function, communicative effectiveness and speech/language function. Analysis of study-specific surveys and semi-structured interviews will provide qualitative data regarding outcomes. Before beginning the education and support group, focus groups will be run in order to set priorities for the themes to be included in the education program. Participants will join via tele-based means if preferred and these participants may reside in the United States, or internationally including Mexico and Spain.

Difficulties with speech and language are the first and most notable symptoms of primary progressive aphasia (PPA). While there is evidence that demonstrates positive effects of speech-language treatment for individuals with PPA who only speak one language (monolinguals), there is a significant need for investigating the effects of treatment that is optimized for bilingual speakers with PPA. This stage 2 efficacy clinical trial seeks to establish the effects of culturally and linguistically tailored speech-language interventions administered to bilingual individuals with PPA. The overall aim of the intervention component of this study is to establish the relationships between the bilingual experience (e.g., how often each language is used, how "strong" each language is) and treatment response of bilinguals with PPA. Specifically, the investigators will evaluate the benefits of tailored speech-language intervention administered in both languages to bilingual individuals with PPA (60 individuals will be recruited). The investigators will conduct an assessment before treatment, after treatment and at two follow-ups (6 and 12-months post-treatment) in both languages. When possible, a structural scan of the brain (magnetic resonance image) will be collected before treatment in order to identify if brain regions implicated in bilingualism are associated with response to treatment. In addition to the intervention described herein, 30 bilingual individuals with PPA will be recruited to complete behavioral cognitive-linguistic testing and will not receive intervention. Results will provide important knowledge about the neural mechanisms of language re-learning and will address how specific characteristics of bilingualism influence cognitive reserve and linguistic resilience in PPA.

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the Systematic Unmet Needs Assessment and Management (SUNAM) Protocol, an algorithm-based intervention developed from the unmet needs theory of BPSD, in reducing Behavioral and Psychological Symptoms of Dementia (BPSD) among institutionalized residents. Both the experimental and control groups received 100 minutes of BPSD foundational education and 100 minutes of VR simulation training. The experimental group received an additional 150 minutes of SUNAM protocol training. The study aims to determine whether integrating SUNAM into caregiver training enhances BPSD assessment, management, and reduction by addressing unmet needs.

This study will evaluate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the novel Resilient Together for Dementia (RT-D) intervention for couples following dementia diagnoses. The primary target is emotional distress, and the program aims to prevent chronic distress in at-risk couples.

This study will contribute to creating a prospective and automated preoperative risk assessment algorithm for predicting 30-day mortality, major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCE), and postoperative neurocognitive outcomes following elective cardiac and vascular surgery in older adults. It will evaluate associations between perioperative factors and longer-term neurocognitive outcomes, including postoperative neurocognitive disorder and dementia. In addition, this study will assess scalable, multimodal preoperative and intraoperative interventions to improve perioperative outcomes. This study will explore two main hypotheses: 1. Preoperative personalized prehabilitation with proactive cognitive and behavioral interventions will improve postoperative cognitive outcomes, morbidity, and mortality in high-risk elderly surgical patients. 2. Proactive bundled intraoperative interventions are superior to reactive standard of care in reducing postoperative cognitive outcomes, MACCE, and mortality. Expected Outcome: Improved EHR algorithm will have higher predictive accuracy for MACCE and mortality while predicting postoperative cognitive outcomes.

PREVENTABLE is a multi-center, randomized, parallel group, placebo-controlled superiority study. Participants will be randomized 1:1 to atorvastatin 40 mg or placebo. This large study conducted in community-dwelling older adults without cardiovascular disease (CVD) or dementia will demonstrate the benefit of statins for reducing the primary composite of death, dementia, and persistent disability and secondary composites including mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and cardiovascular events.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation outcomes of a dementia management competency training program for primary healthcare workers. A cluster randomized controlled trial will be conducted among primary healthcare institutions in Nanping, Fujian Province, China. Eligible primary health care providers will be recruited from community health service centers and township health centers.Participating institutions will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to either a structured dementia management training group or a self-directed learning control group. The intervention group will receive a 12-week blended training program, including online learning, an in-person skills workshop, and case-based practice supervision. The control group will receive self-directed online learning materials. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and 3 months after the intervention. The primary outcome is the change in dementia knowledge, measured using the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Scale. Secondary outcomes include dementia-related attitudes, dementia management practice competency, self-reported dementia management behaviors, objective screening and referral-related indicators, and implementation outcomes based on the RE-AIM framework.