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The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry Feb 2024Memory impairment during aging and amnesia is attributed to compromised mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy and other mitochondrial quality control mechanisms....
Memory impairment during aging and amnesia is attributed to compromised mitochondrial dynamics and mitophagy and other mitochondrial quality control mechanisms. Mitochondrial dynamics involves the continuous process of fission and fusion of mitochondria within a cell and is a fundamental mechanism for regulating mitochondrial quality and function. An extensive range of potential nutritional supplements has been shown to improve mitochondrial health, synaptic plasticity, and cognitive functions. Previous findings revealed that supplementation of vitamin B-folic acid reduces locomotor deficits and mitochondrial abnormalities but enhances mitochondrial and neuronal health. The present study aims to explore the impact of combined vitamin B-folic acid supplementation on mitochondrial dynamics, neuronal health, and memory decline in old age and scopolamine-induced amnesia, which remains elusive. The results demonstrated that supplementation led to a noteworthy increase in recognition and spatial memory and expression of memory-related protein BDNF in old and amnesic mice. Moreover, the decrease in the fragmented mitochondrial number was validated by the downregulation of mitochondrial fission p-Drp1 (S616) protein and the increase in elongated mitochondria by the upregulation of mitochondrial fusion Mfn2 protein. The increased spine density and dendritic arborization in old and amnesic mice upon supplementation were confirmed by the enhanced expression level of PSD95 and synaptophysin. Furthermore, supplementation reduced ROS production, inhibited Caspase-3 activation, mitigated neurodegeneration, and enhanced mitochondrial membrane potential, ATP production, Vdac1 expression, myelination, in old and amnesic mice. Collectively, our findings imply that combined supplementation of vitamin B-folic acid improves mitochondrial dynamics and neuronal health, and leads to recovery of memory during old age and amnesia.
Topics: Mice; Male; Animals; Vitamin B 12; Mitochondrial Dynamics; Folic Acid; Amnesia; Dietary Supplements; Neuronal Plasticity; Vitamins
PubMed: 37981108
DOI: 10.1016/j.jnutbio.2023.109536 -
Age and Ageing Feb 2024Syncope can have devastating consequences, resulting in injuries, accidents or even death. In our ageing society, the subsequent healthcare usage, such as emergency room...
Syncope can have devastating consequences, resulting in injuries, accidents or even death. In our ageing society, the subsequent healthcare usage, such as emergency room presentations, surgeries and hospital admissions, forms a significant and growing socioeconomic burden. Causes of syncope in the older adult include orthostatic hypotension, carotid sinus syndrome, vasovagal syncope, structural cardiac abnormalities, cardiac arrhythmias and conduction abnormalities. As stated in the recently published World Falls Guidelines, syncope in older adults often presents as falls, which is either due to amnesia for loss of consciousness, or pre-syncope leading to a fall, especially in those prone to falls with several other risk-factors for falls present. This difference in presentation can hinder the recognition of syncope. In patients with unexplained falls, or in whom the history comprises red flags for potential syncope, special attention to (pre)syncope is therefore warranted. When syncope is mistaken for other causes of a transient loss of consciousness, such as epileptic seizures, or when syncope presents as falls, patients are often referred to multiple specialists, which may in turn lead to excessive and unnecessary diagnostic testing and costs. Specialist services that are able to provide a comprehensive assessment can improve diagnostic yield and minimise diagnostic testing, thus improving patient satisfaction. Comprehensive assessment also leads to reduced length of hospital stay. Increasingly, geriatricians are involved in the assessment of syncope in the older patient, especially given the overlap with falls. Therefore, awareness of causes of syncope, as well as state-of-the-art assessment and treatment, is of great importance.
Topics: Humans; Aged; Syncope; Hypotension, Orthostatic; Aging; Risk Factors
PubMed: 38331395
DOI: 10.1093/ageing/afad245 -
Alzheimer's & Dementia : the Journal of... Jan 2024Alzheimer's disease studies often lack ethnic diversity.
INTRODUCTION
Alzheimer's disease studies often lack ethnic diversity.
METHODS
We evaluated associations between plasma biomarkers commonly studied in Alzheimer's (p-tau181, GFAP, and NfL), clinical diagnosis (clinically normal, amnestic MCI, amnestic dementia, or non-amnestic MCI/dementia), and Aβ-PET in Hispanic and non-Hispanic older adults. Hispanics were predominantly of Cuban or South American ancestry.
RESULTS
Three-hundred seventy nine participants underwent blood draw (71.9 ± 7.8 years old, 60.2% female, 57% Hispanic of which 88% were Cuban or South American) and 240 completed Aβ-PET. P-tau181 was higher in amnestic MCI (p = 0.004, d = 0.53) and dementia (p < 0.001, d = 0.97) than in clinically normal participants and discriminated Aβ-PET[+] and Aβ-PET[-] (AUC = 0.86). P-tau181 outperformed GFAP and NfL. There were no significant interactions with ethnicity. Among amnestic MCI, Hispanics had lower odds of elevated p-tau181 than non-Hispanic (OR = 0.41, p = 0.006).
DISCUSSION
Plasma p-tau181 informs etiological diagnosis of cognitively impaired Hispanic and non-Hispanic older adults. Hispanic ethnicity may relate to greater likelihood of non-Alzheimer's contributions to memory loss.
HIGHLIGHTS
Alzheimer's biomarkers were measured in Hispanic and non-Hispanic older adults. Plasma p-tau181 related to amnestic cognitive decline and brain amyloid burden. AD biomarker associations did not differ between Hispanic and non-Hispanic ethnicity. Hispanic individuals may be more likely to have non-Alzheimer causes of memory loss.
Topics: Female; Humans; Aged; Middle Aged; Male; Alzheimer Disease; Amyloidogenic Proteins; Brain; Amnesia; Biomarkers; Cognitive Dysfunction; Amyloid beta-Peptides; tau Proteins
PubMed: 37671801
DOI: 10.1002/alz.13456 -
Neurosurgery Oct 2023The literature on athletes with positive head computed tomography (HCT) findings in the setting of sport head injuries remains sparse.
BACKGROUND
The literature on athletes with positive head computed tomography (HCT) findings in the setting of sport head injuries remains sparse.
OBJECTIVE
To report the proportions of athletes with a positive HCT and compare acute injury characteristics and recovery between those with and without a positive HCT.
METHODS
A retrospective, single-institution, cohort study was performed with all athletes aged 12 to 23 years seen at a regional concussion center from 11/2017 to 04/2022. The cohort was dichotomized into positive vs negative HCT (controls). Acute injury characteristics (ie, loss of consciousness and amnesia) and recovery, as measured by days to return-to-learn (RTL), symptom resolution, and return-to-play (RTP) were compared. χ 2 and Mann-Whitney U tests were performed.
RESULTS
Of 2061 athletes, 226 (11.0%) received an HCT and 9 (4.0%) had positive findings. HCT findings included 4 (44.4%) subdural hematomas, 1 (11.1%) epidural hematoma, 2 (22.2%) facial fractures, 1 (11.1%) soft tissue contusion, and 1 (11.1%) cavernous malformation. All 9 (100.0%) athletes were treated nonoperatively and successfully returned-to-play at a median (IQR) of 73.0 (55.0-82.0) days. No differences in loss of consciousness or amnesia were seen between positive HCT group and controls. The Mann-Whitney U test showed differences in RTL (17.0 vs 4.0 days; U = 45.0, P = .016) and RTP (73.0 vs 27.0 days; U = 47.5, P = .007) but not in symptom resolution. Our subanalysis showed no differences across all recovery metrics between acute hemorrhages and controls.
CONCLUSION
Among athletes seen at a regional concussion center who underwent an acute HCT, positive findings were seen in 4%. Although athletes with a positive HCT had longer RTL and RTP, symptom resolution was similar between those with a positive and negative HCT. All athletes with a positive HCT successfully returned to play. Despite a more conservative approach to athletes with a positive HCT, clinical outcomes are similar between those with and without a positive HCT.
Topics: Humans; Athletic Injuries; Return to Sport; Cohort Studies; Retrospective Studies; Brain Concussion; Athletes; Amnesia; Unconsciousness; Tomography
PubMed: 37166195
DOI: 10.1227/neu.0000000000002520 -
Brain Injury Jan 2024The aim of this scoping review was to identify behavioral disturbances exhibited by patients in post-traumatic amnesia (PTA). While behavioral disturbances are common in... (Review)
Review
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this scoping review was to identify behavioral disturbances exhibited by patients in post-traumatic amnesia (PTA). While behavioral disturbances are common in PTA, research into their presentation and standardized measures for their assessment are limited.
DESIGN
The study protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021268275). A scoping review of databases was performed according to pre-determined criteria on 29 July 2021 and updated on 13 July 2022. A conventional content analysis was used to examine and categorize behavioral disturbances.
RESULTS
Thirty papers met the inclusion criteria, of which 27 reported observations and/or scores obtained on behavioral scales, and 3 on clinician interviews and surveys. None focused exclusively on children. Agitation was the most frequently assessed behavior, and Agitated Behavior Scale was the most used instrument. Content analysis, however, bore eight broad behavioral categories: disinhibition, agitation, aggression, lability, lethargy/low mood, perceptual disturbances/psychotic symptoms, personality change and sleep disturbances.
CONCLUSION
Our study revealed that while standardized assessments of behavior of patients in PTA are often limited to agitation, clinical descriptions include a range of behavioral disturbances. Our study highlights a significant gap in the systematic assessment of a wide range of behavioral disturbances observed in PTA.
Topics: Child; Humans; Amnesia; Amnesia, Retrograde; Problem Behavior; Anxiety; Aggression; Brain Injuries, Traumatic
PubMed: 38328966
DOI: 10.1080/02699052.2024.2304865 -
Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) Aug 2023College drinkers commonly report blacking out (i.e., alcohol-induced amnesia), and those who drink with the intention to blackout are at risk for harmful consequences....
College drinkers commonly report blacking out (i.e., alcohol-induced amnesia), and those who drink with the intention to blackout are at risk for harmful consequences. Drunkorexia (i.e., restriction of calories on planned drinking days) is a high-risk behavior potentially associated with blacking out. Informed by the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), this study explores blackout experiences and intentions to blackout association with drunkorexia. College students (n = 2335) who primarily identified as female and White participated via an online survey. Participants received a $3 coupon for completion of the study. Consistent with the literature, 40% and 60.7% of participants reported experiencing blackouts and drunkorexia, respectively, in the last year. Informed by the TPB, a structural equation model assessed whether more frequent blackout experiences (IV) were related to drunkorexia behaviors (DV1) and alcohol behaviors (DV2), and whether there was a significant indirect effect through blackout intention. The model fit the data well (CFI = .98, TLI = .95), which suggests that more frequent blackout experiences relate to more drunkorexia experiences (R = .04) and higher levels of alcohol consumption (R = .44). In addition, the relationship between blackout experiences and drunkorexia flows through intentions to blackout (i.e., a significant indirect effect). Findings are consistent with TPB, which suggests that intentions predict health behavior. Future interventions should consider modifying intentions and other possible TPB constructs to minimize high-risk alcohol consumption and drunkorexia behaviors.
Topics: Humans; Female; Alcohol Drinking; Ethanol; Intention; Surveys and Questionnaires; Students; Universities; Alcohol Drinking in College
PubMed: 37105336
DOI: 10.1016/j.alcohol.2023.04.004 -
Frontiers in Sociology 2023Over the last decade, there has been an increase in calls to address important questions on race and decolonisation within the university, administratively,... (Review)
Review
Over the last decade, there has been an increase in calls to address important questions on race and decolonisation within the university, administratively, pedagogically, and socially. This study investigates the relationship between the university, the coloniser, and the colonised during the colonial era and the afterlife. It aims to demonstrate that the university has made the act of abstraction and theorisation central across disciplines in a way that shears theoretical principles from the historical contexts they emerge from, distancing them from the purposes, people, and interests they were meant to serve, as well as the populations they were meant to dispossess and disempower. The study provides a conceptual framework for deconstructive analysis of the university's pedagogical operations and societal function with the view to elucidate the university's colonial and racial blind spots, notably, with a reliance on disciplinary narratives from development, international relations, and international law to offer tentative answers to the questions of decolonial praxis, the decolonial scholar, and coloniality in the contemporary university.
PubMed: 37808426
DOI: 10.3389/fsoc.2023.979579 -
BMC Medical Imaging Oct 2023The hippocampus is a key area of the brain responsible for learning, memory, and other abilities. Accurately segmenting the hippocampus and precisely calculating the...
BACKGROUND
The hippocampus is a key area of the brain responsible for learning, memory, and other abilities. Accurately segmenting the hippocampus and precisely calculating the volume of the hippocampus is of great significance for predicting Alzheimer's disease and amnesia. Most of the segmentation algorithms currently involved are based on templates, such as the more popular FreeSufer.
METHODS
This study proposes Deephipp, a deep learning network based on a 3D dense block using an attention mechanism for accurate segmentation of the hippocampus. DeepHipp is based on the following novelties: (i) DeepHipp adopts powerful data augmentation schemes to enhance the segmentation ability. (ii) DeepHipp is designed to incorporate 3D dense-block to capture multiple-scale features of the hippocampus. (iii) DeepHipp creatively uses the attention mechanism in the field of hippocampal image segmentation, extracting useful hippocampus information in a massive feature map, and improving the accuracy and sensitivity of the model.
CONCLUSIONS
We describe the illustrative results and show extensive qualitative and quantitative comparisons with other methods. Our achievement demonstrates that the accuracy of DeepHipp can reach 83.63%, which is superior to most existing methods in terms of accuracy and efficiency of hippocampus segmentation. It is noticeable that deep learning can potentially lead to an effective segmentation of medical images.
Topics: Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Algorithms; Hippocampus; Alzheimer Disease; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
PubMed: 37833644
DOI: 10.1186/s12880-023-01103-5 -
Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B Jan 2024Epidemiological studies have reported an association between epilepsy and dementia. However, the causal relationship between epilepsy and the risk of dementia is not...
OBJECTIVE
Epidemiological studies have reported an association between epilepsy and dementia. However, the causal relationship between epilepsy and the risk of dementia is not clear. We aimed to inspect the causal effect of epilepsy on memory loss and dementia.
METHODS
We analyzed summary data of epilepsy, memory loss, and dementia from the genome-wide association study (GWAS) using the two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) method. We used the estimated odds ratio of memory loss and dementia associated with each of the genetically defined traits to infer evidence for a causal relationship with the following exposures: all epilepsy, focal epilepsy (including focal epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis, lesion-negative focal epilepsy, and focal epilepsy with other lesions), and genetic generalized epilepsy (including childhood absence epilepsy, generalized tonic-clonic seizures alone, Juvenile absence epilepsy, and Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy).
RESULTS
According to the result of MR using the inverse variance weighted method (IVW), we found that genetically predicted epilepsy did not causally increase the risk of memory loss and dementia (p > 0.05). Results of the MR-Egger and weighted median method were consistent with the IVW method.
CONCLUSIONS
No evidence has been found to support the notion that epilepsy can result in memory loss and dementia. The associations observed in epidemiological studies could be attributed, in part, to confounding or nongenetic determinants.
Topics: Humans; Child; Mendelian Randomization Analysis; Genome-Wide Association Study; Epilepsies, Partial; Epilepsy, Absence; Amnesia; Dementia
PubMed: 38070412
DOI: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2023.109570 -
Sleep Jul 2023To establish whether the recent EEG and behavioral criteria of arousal disorders apply to sexsomnia.
STUDY OBJECTIVES
To establish whether the recent EEG and behavioral criteria of arousal disorders apply to sexsomnia.
METHODS
EEG and behavioral markers upon N3 sleep interruptions in videopolysomnography were retrospectively compared in 24 participants with sexsomnia, 41 participants with arousals disorders, and 40 healthy controls. The specificity and sensitivity of previously suggested EEG and behavioral cutoffs for supporting arousal disorders diagnosis were measured in the sexsomnia vs. control groups.
RESULTS
Participants with sexsomnia and arousals disorders showed a higher N3 fragmentation index, slow/mixed N3 arousal index, and number of eye openings during N3 interruptions than healthy controls. Ten (41.7%) participants with sexsomnia (vs. one sleepwalker and no control) displayed an apparently sexual behavior (masturbation, sexual vocalization, pelvic thrusting, and hand within the pajama) during N3 arousal. An N3 sleep fragmentation index ≥6.8/h of N3 sleep and two or more N3 arousals associated with eye opening was 95% specific but poorly (46% and 42%) sensitive for diagnosing sexsomnia. An index of slow/mixed N3 arousals ≥2.5/h of N3 sleep was 73% specific and 67% sensitive. An N3 arousal with trunk raising, sitting, speaking, showing an expression of fear/surprise, shouting, or exhibiting sexual behavior was 100% specific for a diagnosis of sexsomnia.
CONCLUSIONS
In patients with sexsomnia, videopolysomnography based markers of arousal disorders are intermediate between healthy individuals and patients with other arousal disorders, supporting the concept of sexsomnia as a specialized, but less neurophysiologically severe, NREM parasomnia. Previously validated criteria for arousal disorders partially fit in patients with sexsomnia.
Topics: Humans; Retrospective Studies; Polysomnography; Parasomnias; Arousal; Electroencephalography
PubMed: 36866491
DOI: 10.1093/sleep/zsad056