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Genes Jul 2023Past studies identified a link between weight loss and dementia, but lacked consistent conclusions. We sought to establish this link by examining the weight change...
BACKGROUND
Past studies identified a link between weight loss and dementia, but lacked consistent conclusions. We sought to establish this link by examining the weight change profiles before and after dementia diagnosis.
METHODS
Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (1996-2020), we examined 13,123 participants. We conducted a nested case-control analysis to assess differences in biennial weight change profile while controlling for BMI, longevity polygenic risk scores, and gene variants.
RESULTS
Participants with a memory disorder lost weight (-0.63%) biennially, whereas those without a diagnosis did not (+0.013%, -value < 0.0001). Our case-control study shows a significant difference (-value < 0.01) in pre-dementia % weight changes between the cases (-0.29%) and controls (0.19%), but not in post-dementia weight changes. The weight loss group have the highest risk (OR = 2.01; -value < 0.0001) of developing a memory disorder compared to the stable weight and weight gain groups. The observations hold true after adjusting for BMI, longevity polygenic risk scores, and variant in a multivariable model.
CONCLUSIONS
We observe that weight loss in dementia is a physiological process independent of genetic factors associated with BMI and longevity. Pre-dementia weight loss may be an important prognostic criterion to assess a person's risk of developing a memory disorder.
Topics: Humans; Case-Control Studies; Memory Disorders; Weight Loss; Dementia; Apolipoproteins E
PubMed: 37628615
DOI: 10.3390/genes14081563 -
Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology :... Mar 2014We investigated whether patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder have poorer memory and executive functions than healthy controls.
OBJECTIVE
We investigated whether patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder have poorer memory and executive functions than healthy controls.
BACKGROUND
The relatively inconsistent previous findings on this question reflect a lack of well-matched control groups, the inclusion of patients with comorbidity, and the use of noncomparable neuropsychological tests to assess memory and executive functions.
METHODS
We used well-accepted neuropsychological tests of memory and executive functions to assess 42 patients who had obsessive-compulsive disorder without comorbidity, and 42 healthy controls. We matched the patients and controls pairwise by sex, age, and years of education.
RESULTS
The patients performed significantly worse than the controls on the Rey Complex Figure Test, which assesses visuospatial memory and organizational skills. This group difference remained after we controlled for age, education, intelligence, and severity of depressive symptoms.
CONCLUSIONS
The findings indicate that patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder may have impaired visuospatial memory and organizational skills, and these impairments should be considered in treatment.
TRIAL REGISTRATION
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00792038.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Case-Control Studies; Child; Depression; Educational Status; Executive Function; Female; Humans; Intelligence; Male; Memory; Memory Disorders; Neuropsychological Tests; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Severity of Illness Index
PubMed: 24674961
DOI: 10.1097/WNN.0000000000000021 -
Journal of Sleep Research Dec 2019Individuals diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience disruption at both slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep stages and...
Individuals diagnosed with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) experience disruption at both slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid-eye movement (REM) sleep stages and demonstrate marked memory impairment. A small group of studies suggests that, within the disorder, there is a mechanistic relation between these sleep and memory impairments. This study sought to extend that literature by examining whether, in PTSD-diagnosed individuals, memory-retention deficits are present after a sleep-filled (but not after a wake-filled) delay (i.e., whether memory deficits can be traced to interruptions of sleep-dependent memory consolidation). Moreover, we investigated whether SWS- or REM-based disturbances, or both, contribute to retention deficits. We recruited participants into three groups: PTSD (n = 21), trauma-exposed non-PTSD (TE; n = 19) and healthy control (HC; n = 20). Using a crossover design, we assessed memory recall before and after an 8-hr period of polysomnography-monitored sleep and an 8-hr period of regular waking activity. PTSD-diagnosed participants retained less information than controls over the sleep-filled (but not wake-filled) delay. Furthermore, increased REM fragmentation predicted postsleep memory retention in PTSD-diagnosed individuals only. No SWS parameter was associated with or predictive of the amount of information retained postsleep. We conclude that specific REM-related changes in PTSD-diagnosed individuals affected sleep-dependent neutral declarative memory consolidation. Generally, these findings extend the literature suggesting that the co-occurrence of sleep and memory difficulties in PTSD is not accidental, but that these two symptom clusters are meaningfully related. Specifically, the study illustrates that subtle REM-related disruptions contribute most strongly to memory impairment in PTSD.
Topics: Adult; Female; Humans; Memory Consolidation; Memory Disorders; Polysomnography; Predictive Value of Tests; Psychomotor Performance; Sleep, REM; Sleep, Slow-Wave; Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic; Young Adult
PubMed: 30932254
DOI: 10.1111/jsr.12846 -
Revista de NeurologiaOf all the age-related changes, those associated with the nervous system are of primordial importance and, although there are of course exceptions, brain deterioration... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Of all the age-related changes, those associated with the nervous system are of primordial importance and, although there are of course exceptions, brain deterioration is very widespread in the elderly.
DEVELOPMENT
In both normal and pathological aging, on many occasions the first cognitive dysfunction to appear and the most affected is memory. Age-related memory disorder (ARMD) is a clinical state that is characterised by loss of memory in people aged 50 or over with no other explainable causation and which can be quite common because of its being linked to the normal aging process. Care of these patients involves high economic costs for the family and for society. Although the behavioural defects associated with ARMD are mild, compared to those found in dementias, they are disturbing and difficult for many middle-aged and elderly adults who perform intellectual activities. Yet, the memory disorder observed in the elderly is not always benign, as it can progress towards dementia and they may be two different entities.
CONCLUSIONS
Early detection of memory disorder is important, since it is a common early sign of dementia syndromes. Its relatively straightforward diagnosis means that it can be used as an effective tool in the hands of general practitioners for the monitoring and treatment of the elderly in their communities.
Topics: Adult; Age Factors; Humans; Memory Disorders; Middle Aged; Primary Health Care
PubMed: 14730493
DOI: No ID Found -
European Psychiatry : the Journal of... Mar 1999It is proposed that patients with panic disorder have a defect in fear-relevant episodic memory, and their panic attacks arise from automaticity in recollecting...
It is proposed that patients with panic disorder have a defect in fear-relevant episodic memory, and their panic attacks arise from automaticity in recollecting fear-relevant emotional-autonomic cluster. The cluster as a component of fear appears to have been dissociated from cognitive structure (episodic or informative memory trace) or from "information structure". A special method was created for testing this hypothesis where 30 panic disorder patients, 12 healthy controls, and 32 patients with other psychiatric diagnoses were asked to recall and describe a fearful experience. None of the patients in the panic disorder group could recall any fearful event or episode in their past. All but one subject among healthy controls and all the subjects in the non-panic group could recall one or more fearful event or episode. Possible theoretical implications of these results are discussed in the context of some classical concepts.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Female; Humans; Male; Memory Disorders; Mental Recall; Middle Aged; Panic Disorder; Psychological Theory; Reproducibility of Results
PubMed: 10572326
DOI: 10.1016/s0924-9338(99)80717-2 -
Journal of Clinical and Experimental... Oct 1989Time disorientation is a common feature of anterograde memory disorder caused by brain illness. This observation suggests that the subjective time constructions used to...
Time disorientation is a common feature of anterograde memory disorder caused by brain illness. This observation suggests that the subjective time constructions used to organize events are strongly dependent upon memory storage processes. This study evaluated one prominent cognitive theory of time estimation from the point of view of organic memory disorder. A severely amnesic subject and 10 unimpaired subjects were asked to estimate time intervals using methods gleaned from the cognitive study of subjective time estimation. Results strongly suggest that the ability to remember new information is required in order to maintain an accurate time perspective. The time context for this subject essentially resided in the past, roughly corresponding to the time of her original brain surgery for a dermoid cyst near the third ventricle. Her ability to estimate time intervals and general time perspective was constrained by her impoverished store of knowledge for personal experiences.
Topics: Female; Humans; Memory Disorders; Middle Aged; Time Perception; Time and Motion Studies
PubMed: 2808660
DOI: 10.1080/01688638908400927 -
Neural Plasticity 2015Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by a dysfunctional processing of autobiographical memories. We review the following core domains of deficit: systematic... (Review)
Review
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by a dysfunctional processing of autobiographical memories. We review the following core domains of deficit: systematic biases favoring materials of negative emotional valence; diminished access and response to positive memories; a recollection of overgeneral memories in detriment of specific autobiographical memories; and the role of ruminative processes and avoidance when dealing with autobiographical memories. Furthermore, we review evidence from functional neuroimaging studies of neural circuits activated by the recollection of autobiographical memories in both healthy and depressive individuals. Disruptions in autobiographical memories predispose and portend onset and maintenance of depression. Thus, we discuss emerging therapeutics that target memory difficulties in those with depression. We review strategies for this clinical domain, including memory specificity training, method-of-loci, memory rescripting, and real-time fMRI neurofeedback training of amygdala activity in depression. We propose that the manipulation of the reconsolidation of autobiographical memories in depression might represent a novel yet largely unexplored, domain-specific, therapeutic opportunity for depression treatment.
Topics: Animals; Antidepressive Agents; Depressive Disorder; Humans; Memory Disorders; Memory, Episodic
PubMed: 26380121
DOI: 10.1155/2015/759139 -
Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Aug 2017
Topics: Adult; Bipolar Disorder; Humans; Memory Disorders; Mental Recall; Neuropsychological Tests; Verbal Learning
PubMed: 28459504
DOI: 10.1111/pcn.12536 -
Cognitive Neuropsychiatry Nov 2009Although emotional dysregulation is a core problem in borderline personality disorder (BPD), few neuropsychological studies have evaluated the impact of emotion. The...
INTRODUCTION
Although emotional dysregulation is a core problem in borderline personality disorder (BPD), few neuropsychological studies have evaluated the impact of emotion. The present study aimed at the comprehensive investigation of verbal memory functions with and without emotionally relevant interference in BPD. BPD patients were expected to perform as well as healthy subjects in standard memory tasks but to show fewer capacities to control for emotionally negative interference.
METHODS
47 patients with BPD and 70 healthy control subjects participated. An experimental task assessed verbal memory with respect to standard and emotionally relevant and neutral interference learning conditions. Applied standard tests covered working memory, delayed memory, and word fluency.
RESULTS
Memory performances of BPD patients were impaired when negatively valenced interference was conducted but normal in all other conditions. These results remained stable after controlling for comorbid major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder.
DISCUSSION
The present findings suggest no general impairment of verbal memory functions in BPD but control and inhibition of interference by emotionally significant material seem to be disturbed.
Topics: Adult; Analysis of Variance; Borderline Personality Disorder; Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; Emotions; Female; Humans; Male; Memory Disorders; Mental Recall; Neuropsychological Tests; Patient Selection; Self-Assessment
PubMed: 19894145
DOI: 10.1080/13546800903049853 -
Biological Psychology Jan 2011Functional memory disorder (FMD) is characterized by mnestic and attentional deficits without symptoms of mild cognitive impairment or dementia. FMD usually develops in...
Functional memory disorder (FMD) is characterized by mnestic and attentional deficits without symptoms of mild cognitive impairment or dementia. FMD usually develops in subjects with high psychosocial stress level and is classified to the somatoform disorders. We assessed memory performance (procedural mirror tracing task, declarative visual and verbal memory task) and other cognitive functions before and after one night of sleep in 12 FMD patients (mean age: 51.7 yrs, 7 females) and 12 healthy subjects matched for age, gender and IQ. Memory performance and other neurocognitive tasks did not differ between the groups at baseline. After one night of sleep, FMD patients showed an impairment of declarative memory consolidation compared to healthy subjects (visual task: p=0.004; verbal task: p=0.039). Spectral analysis of sleep-EEG indicated an increased cortical excitation in FMD. We hypothesize that a hyperarousal state in FMD might contribute to sleep disturbance implicating negative effects on declarative memory consolidation.
Topics: Analysis of Variance; Attention; Cognition Disorders; Electroencephalography; Female; Humans; Male; Memory; Memory Disorders; Middle Aged; Neuropsychological Tests; Polysomnography; Psychomotor Performance; Reaction Time; Sleep
PubMed: 20955761
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2010.10.003