Different patterns of β-amyloid deposition in patients with Alzheimer's disease according to the presence of mild parkinsonism

Effects of stepped speech rehabilitation and psychological intervention on speech disorders and cognitive function in Parkinson disease patients

To examine the impact of stepwise speech rehabilitation exercise therapy in the treatment of patients with Parkinson speech problems under psychological intervention on clinical results and cognitive functioning. Parkinson speech disorder patients who met the inclusion criteria were selected and divided into a control group and an observation group for training respectively. The control group used conventional nursing methods, including training in orofacial movement, vocalization, pitch, volume and breath control. The observation group used stepwise speech rehabilitation exercise intervention combined with psychotherapy nursing programme. In the statistical analysis, independent sample t-test and chi-square test were used to test the significance of the data processing methods. In the statistical analysis of baseline functional level (P > .05). The difference was not statistically significant. After 7 weeks of training, the mFDA level and speech intelligibility increased in both the observation and control groups. From the situation analysis of "modified drinking test" and the comparison of UPDRS-I scores, it can be seen that dysphagia and Parkinson dysphasia were reduced in both groups after training. The observation group spontaneous speech dimension was greater than the control group by around 0.07 in the aphasia comparison. Both groups displayed an upward trend in their MMSE and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) when measuring cognitive function; the evaluation of P300, constructive function, and quality of life revealed this. The observation group P300 potential score was 0.13 points higher than that of the control group. The therapeutic training of stepped speech rehabilitation exercise care combined with psychological intervention has significant nursing effects on patients with Parkinson disease speech disorders, and the patients' cognitive functions have been effectively improved.

Occipital Amyloid Deposition Is Associated with Rapid Cognitive Decline in the Alzheimer's Disease Continuum

BACKGROUND

Clinical significance of additional occipital amyloid-β (Aβ) plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE

In this study, we investigated the effect of regional Aβ deposition on cognition in patients on the AD continuum, especially in the occipital region.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed the medical record of 208 patients with AD across the cognitive continuum (non-dementia and dementia). Multivariable linear regression analyses were performed to determine the effect of regional Aβ deposition on cognitive function. A linear mixed model was used to assess the effect of regional deposition on longitudinal changes in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores. Additionally, the patients were dichotomized according to the occipital-to-global Aβ deposition ratio (ratio ≤1, Aβ-OCC- group; ratio >1, Aβ-OCC+ group), and the same statistical analyses were applied for between-group comparisons.

RESULTS

Regional Aβ burden itself was not associated with baseline cognitive function. In terms of Aβ-OCC group effect, the Aβ-OCC+ group exhibited a poorer cognitive performance on language function compared to the Aβ-OCC- group. High Aβ retention in each region was associated with a rapid decline in MMSE scores, only in the dementia subgroup. Additionally, Aβ-OCC+ individuals exhibited a faster annual decline in MMSE scores than Aβ-OCC- individuals in the non-dementia subgroup (β= -0.77, standard error [SE] = 0.31, p = 0.013).

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrated that additional occipital Aβ deposition was associated with poor baseline language function and rapid cognitive deterioration in patients on the AD continuum.