Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Postmortem Brain Imaging In Alzheimer's Disease And Related Dementias: The South Texas Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Repository, Karl Li, Tanweer Rashid, Jinqi Li, Nicolas Honnorat, Anoop Benet Nirmala, Elyas Fadaee, Di Wang, Sokratis Charisis, Gladys E. Maestre, Peter T. Fox

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Background:

Neuroimaging bears the promise of providing new biomarkers that could refine the diagnosis of dementia. Still, obtaining the pathology data required to validate the relationship between neuroimaging markers and neurological changes is challenging. Existing data repositories are focused on a single pathology, are too small, or do not precisely match neuroimaging and pathology findings.

Objective:

The new data repository introduced in this work, the South Texas Alzheimer’s Disease research center repository, was designed to address these limitations. Our repository covers a broad diversity of dementias, spans a wide age range, and was specifically designed to draw exact correspondences between …

Apoe Polymorphism And Its Association With Dementia, Neuropsychiatric Disorders, And Demographic Factors In U.S Hispanic Population, Victoria I. Padilla

Research Symposium

In 2019, the United States Census revealed that Hispanics are the greatest minority group in the U.S, 18% of the population; in 2060, it is expected to increase by 28%. Hispanics ages 65 have one of the highest rates of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the U.S. Studies have linked AD and other cognitive impairments, MCI, with apolipoprotein or APOE gene. APOE has also shown to increase the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders in individuals. However, there are limited studies in U.S Hispanics. This study examines the APOE gene and its associations with dementiarelated phenotypes, neuropsychiatric disorders, and demographic factors in U.S …

Years Of Education And Total Intracranial Volume: A Longitudinal Study, Okechukwu C. Erinne

Research Symposium

Background: Education is one of the factors that contribute to a higher brain reserve. Based on the brain reserve hypothesis, the greater the brain reserve, the less likely it is to develop a neurocognitive disorder, such as dementia.

Methods: Data for this study were obtained from the Open Access Series of Imaging Studies (OASIS) longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data in nondemented and demented adults. There was a total of 150 right-handed participants and 373 imaging sessions, with an average duration of 719 days between visits. The primary outcome was estimated total intracranial volume (eTIV). Multivariable longitudinal regression was used …

Critical Reflection In Practice: Generating Knowledge From The Interactions With Promotores For Engagement In Neurocognitive Disorders, Noe Garza, Ney Alliey-Rodriguez, Rosa V. Pirela, Gladys E. Maestre

Research Symposium

Background: Colonias are underserved areas along the Texas-Mexico border, with high incidences of neurocognitive disorders, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease (AD). Our goal is to build capacity to reduce risk, facilitate treatment for affected individuals, and provide caregiver support. Our aim was to construct an approach that was reflective and would reveal the rich and diverse ways in which people make meaning of their experiences and interactions with scientists, faculty, staff and students.

Methods: We examined our work with local community health workers. (CHWs), promotores in Spanish, to establish contact with, engage, mobilize, and educate the Hispanic communities of the Lower …

Understanding The Resources, Barriers, Facilitators And Interests About Aging And Dementia Research Of Community Members From The Rio Grande Valley, Karla Daniela Lopez Lorenzo, Rosa V. Pirela Mavarez, Gabriela Osuna, Kendra Stine, Nahalie Chacon De Alvarez, Noe Garza, Gladys E. Maestre

Research Symposium

Background: One of ten people aged 65 develops Alzheimer’s Disease and it is one of the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States. The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) is mostly constituted by Hispanic/Latinos (93%), a population that has a 1.5X increased risk of AD onset. Nevertheless, there are not enough resources to support people living with dementia and their care partners. This study will leverage research efforts deployed by the RGV Alzheimer’s Disease Resource Center for Minority Aging Research to understand the social representations about the resources, barriers, facilitators, and interests of the RGV community about dementia and Alzheimer’s …

The Mex-Cog Cognitive Assessment Battery: Discriminant Analysis Of The Cognitive Performance Profile In Older Adults, Silvia Mejía-Arango, Sara Aguilar-Navarro, Alberto José Mimenza-Alvarado

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Objective. To analyze the cognitive profile of a clinical sample using the Mex-Cog cognitive battery and establish which cognitive measures and domains contribute most to group separation.

Materials and methods. A group of 145 older adults previously diagnosed with dementia (n= 47), mild cognitive impairment MCI (n= 47), or as cognitively normal (n= 51) were assessed with the Mex-Cog cognitive battery. Six linear discriminant analyses (LDA) were estimated to compare dementia vs. cognitively normal, MCI vs. cognitively normal, and MCI vs. dementia, using ten individual measures and six cognitive domains. We used a leave-one-out cross-validation procedure to evaluate the predictive …

Apoe Gene Associated With Dementia-Related Traits, Depression, And Anxiety In The Hispanic Population, Chun Xu, Victoria Padilla, Stephanie Lozano, Daniela Gamez, Brenda Bin Su, Xuan Wang, Gladys Maestre, Kesheng Wang

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a main cause of dementia, is commonly seen in aging populations with a strong genetic component. AD is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders; it is a genetically and clinically heterogeneous disease. Specific demographic factors and genetic variants have been identified in non-Hispanic populations; however, limited studies have observed the Hispanic population. Therefore, we focused on investigating a known gene, APOE, associated with AD-related phenotypes and two psychiatric diseases (depression and anxiety) within the U.S. Hispanic population in our current study. A total of 1382 subjects were studied based on data collected from the Texas Alzheimer's …

Dementia And Cognitive Impairment In French-Speaking Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comprehensive Review On Moving Out Of The Shadows Of Neglect, Cyrille D. Nkouonlack, Wepnyu Y. Njamnshi, Samuel A. Angwafor, Joseph N. Siewe Fodjo, Michel K. Mengnjo, Leonard Ngarka, Maggy Mbede, Leonard N. Nfor, Carlson Abomate, Gladys E. Maestre

School of Medicine Publications and Presentations

Dementia is a global public health problem with increasing prevalence and incidence worldwide. The African continent is expected to bear the biggest brunt of the burden of dementia by 2050 because of the rapid demographic changes, including rapid population growth, an increase in life expectancy, and ageing. However, French-speaking Sub-Saharan African (FS-SSA) countries are underrepresented in research on dementia in Africa. While the reasons are diverse and complex, linguistic and cultural barriers to research, disproportionately affect these countries and may be significant factors. Any efforts, therefore, to redress the burden of dementia in Africa must consider the specific demographic, cultural, …