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Chenain L, Riad R, Fraisse N, Jubin C, Morgado G, Youssov K, Lunven M, Bachoud-Levi AC. Graph methods to infer spatial disturbances: Application to Huntington's Disease's speech. Cortex 2024; 176:144-160. [PMID: 38795650 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2024.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2023] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 04/25/2024] [Indexed: 05/28/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Huntington's Disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by the mutation of the Htt gene, impacting all aspects of living and functioning. Among cognitive disabilities, spatial capacities are impaired, but their monitoring remains scarce as limited by lengthy experts' assessments. Language offers an alternative medium to evaluate patients' performance in HD. Yet, its capacities to assess HD's spatial abilities are unknown. Here, we aimed to bring proof-of-concept that HD's spatial deficits can be assessed through speech. METHODS We developed the Spatial Description Model to graphically represent spatial relations described during the Cookie Theft Picture (CTP) task. We increased the sensitivity of our model by using only sentences with spatial terms, unlike previous studies in Alzheimer's disease. 78 carriers of the mutant Htt, including 56 manifest and 22 premanifest individuals, as well as 25 healthy controls were included from the BIOHD & (NCT01412125) & Repair-HD (NCT03119246) cohorts. The convergence and divergence of the model were validated using the SelfCog battery. RESULTS Our Spatial Description Model was the only one among the four assessed approaches, revealing that individuals with manifest HD expressed fewer spatial relations and engaged in less spatial exploration compared to healthy controls. Their graphs correlated with both visuospatial and language SelfCog performances, but not with motor, executive nor memory functions. CONCLUSIONS We provide the proof-of-concept using our Spatial Description Model that language can grasp HD patient's spatial disturbances. By adding spatial capabilities to the panel of functions tested by the language, it paves the way for eventual remote clinical application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucie Chenain
- Département d'Etudes Cognitives, École normale supérieure, PSL University, NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, 75005 Paris, France; Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM U955, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Equipe NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, F-94010 Créteil, France; NeurATRIS Créteil, France; ALMAnaCH, INRIA, 75012 Paris, France; Learning Planet Institute, Université de Paris, 75004 Paris, France
| | - Rachid Riad
- Département d'Etudes Cognitives, École normale supérieure, PSL University, NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, 75005 Paris, France; Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM U955, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Equipe NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, F-94010 Créteil, France; NeurATRIS Créteil, France
| | - Nicolas Fraisse
- Département d'Etudes Cognitives, École normale supérieure, PSL University, NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, 75005 Paris, France; Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM U955, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Equipe NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, F-94010 Créteil, France; NeurATRIS Créteil, France; AP-HP, Hôpital Henri Mondor-Albert Chenevier, Centre de référence Maladie de Huntington, Service de Neurologie, F-94010 Créteil, France
| | - Cécilia Jubin
- Département d'Etudes Cognitives, École normale supérieure, PSL University, NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, 75005 Paris, France; Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM U955, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Equipe NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, F-94010 Créteil, France; NeurATRIS Créteil, France; AP-HP, Hôpital Henri Mondor-Albert Chenevier, Centre de référence Maladie de Huntington, Service de Neurologie, F-94010 Créteil, France
| | - Graça Morgado
- Inserm, Centre d'Investigation Clinique 1430, AP-HP, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France
| | - Katia Youssov
- Département d'Etudes Cognitives, École normale supérieure, PSL University, NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, 75005 Paris, France; Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM U955, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Equipe NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, F-94010 Créteil, France; NeurATRIS Créteil, France; AP-HP, Hôpital Henri Mondor-Albert Chenevier, Centre de référence Maladie de Huntington, Service de Neurologie, F-94010 Créteil, France; Inserm, Centre d'Investigation Clinique 1430, AP-HP, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France
| | - Marine Lunven
- Département d'Etudes Cognitives, École normale supérieure, PSL University, NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, 75005 Paris, France; Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM U955, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Equipe NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, F-94010 Créteil, France; NeurATRIS Créteil, France.
| | - Anne-Catherine Bachoud-Levi
- Département d'Etudes Cognitives, École normale supérieure, PSL University, NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, 75005 Paris, France; Univ Paris Est Créteil, INSERM U955, Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale, Equipe NeuroPsychologie Interventionnelle, F-94010 Créteil, France; NeurATRIS Créteil, France; AP-HP, Hôpital Henri Mondor-Albert Chenevier, Centre de référence Maladie de Huntington, Service de Neurologie, F-94010 Créteil, France; Inserm, Centre d'Investigation Clinique 1430, AP-HP, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Créteil, France
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Vasilkovska T, Adhikari M, Van Audekerke J, Salajeghe S, Pustina D, Cachope R, Tang H, Liu L, Munoz-Sanjuan I, Van der Linden A, Verhoye M. Resting-state fMRI reveals longitudinal alterations in brain network connectivity in the zQ175DN mouse model of Huntington's disease. Neurobiol Dis 2023; 181:106095. [PMID: 36963694 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2023.106095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2023] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 03/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease is an autosomal, dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by an expansion of the CAG repeats in exon 1 of the huntingtin gene. Neuronal degeneration and dysfunction that precedes regional atrophy result in the impairment of striatal and cortical circuits that affect the brain's large-scale network functionality. However, the evolution of these disease-driven, large-scale connectivity alterations is still poorly understood. Here we used resting-state fMRI to investigate functional connectivity changes in a mouse model of Huntington's disease in several relevant brain networks and how they are affected at different ages that follow a disease-like phenotypic progression. Towards this, we used the heterozygous (HET) form of the zQ175DN Huntington's disease mouse model that recapitulates aspects of human disease pathology. Seed- and Region-based analyses were performed at different ages, on 3-, 6-, 10-, and 12-month-old HET and age-matched wild-type mice. Our results demonstrate decreased connectivity starting at 6 months of age, most prominently in regions such as the retrosplenial and cingulate cortices, pertaining to the default mode-like network and auditory and visual cortices, part of the associative cortical network. At 12 months, we observe a shift towards decreased connectivity in regions such as the somatosensory cortices, pertaining to the lateral cortical network, and the caudate putamen, a constituent of the subcortical network. Moreover, we assessed the impact of distinct Huntington's Disease-like pathology of the zQ175DN HET mice on age-dependent connectivity between different brain regions and networks where we demonstrate that connectivity strength follows a nonlinear, inverted U-shape pattern, a well-known phenomenon of development and normal aging. Conversely, the neuropathologically driven alteration of connectivity, especially in the default mode and associative cortical networks, showed diminished age-dependent evolution of functional connectivity. These findings reveal that in this Huntington's disease model, altered connectivity starts with cortical network aberrations which precede striatal connectivity changes, that appear only at a later age. Taken together, these results suggest that the age-dependent cortical network dysfunction seen in rodents could represent a relevant pathological process in Huntington's disease progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamara Vasilkovska
- Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Antwerp, Belgium; μNEURO Research Centre of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
| | - Mohit Adhikari
- Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Antwerp, Belgium; μNEURO Research Centre of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Johan Van Audekerke
- Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Antwerp, Belgium; μNEURO Research Centre of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Somaie Salajeghe
- Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Antwerp, Belgium
| | | | | | - Haiying Tang
- CHDI Management/CHDI Foundation, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Longbin Liu
- CHDI Management/CHDI Foundation, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | | | - Annemie Van der Linden
- Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Antwerp, Belgium; μNEURO Research Centre of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Marleen Verhoye
- Bio-Imaging Lab, University of Antwerp, Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Antwerp, Belgium; μNEURO Research Centre of Excellence, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
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García-Escobar G, Puig-Pijoan A, Puente-Periz V, Fernández-Lebrero A, María Manero R, Navalpotro-Gómez I, Suárez-Calvet M, Grau-Rivera O, Contador-Muñana J, Cascales-Lahoz D, Duran-Jordà X, Boltes N, Pont-Sunyer MC, Ortiz-Gil J, Carrillo-Molina S, López-Villegas MD, Abellán-Vidal MT, Martínez-Casamitjana MI, Hernández-Sánchez JJ, Padrós-Fluvià A, Peña-Casanova J, Sánchez-Benavides G. NEURONORMA Cognitive Battery Associations with Cerebrospinal Fluid Amyloid-β and Tau Levels in the Continuum of Alzheimer's Disease. J Alzheimers Dis 2023; 92:1303-1321. [PMID: 37038810 DOI: 10.3233/jad-220930] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Neuropsychological assessments are essential to define the cognitive profile and contribute to the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The progress in knowledge about the pathophysiological process of the disease has allowed conceptualizing AD through biomarkers as a biological continuum that encompasses different clinical stages. OBJECTIVE To explore the association between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of AD and cognition using the NEURONORMA battery, in a sample of cognitively unimpaired (CU), mild cognitive impaired (MCI), and mild dementia of the Alzheimer type (DAT) subjects, and to characterize the cognitive profiles in MCI subjects classified by A/T/N system. METHODS 42 CU, 35 MCI, and 35 mild DAT were assessed using the NEURONORMA battery. Core AD biomarkers [amyloid-β42 (Aβ42) peptide, total tau (t-tau), and phosphorylated tau 181 (p-tau181)] proteins were measured in CSF. Correlation coefficients, multivariate regression, and effect sizes were calculated. We explored the age- and education-adjusted cognitive profiles by A/T/N variants within the MCI group. RESULTS Cognitive outcomes were directly associated with CSF Aβ42 and inversely with CSF tau measures. We found differences in both biomarkers and cognitive outcomes comparing all pairs except for CSF measures between cognitively impaired groups. The highest effect size was in memory tasks and biomarkers ratios. Lower performances were in memory and executive domains in MCI subjects with AD pathology (A+T+N±) compared to those with normal levels of AD biomarkers (A- T- N). CONCLUSION This study provides further evidence of the validity of Spanish NEURONORMA cognitive battery to characterize cognitive impairment in the AD pathological continuum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Greta García-Escobar
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neurosciences Research Group, Neurosciences Research Program, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Albert Puig-Pijoan
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neurosciences Research Group, Neurosciences Research Program, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
- Cognitive Impairment and Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital del Mar, Parc de Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Víctor Puente-Periz
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neurosciences Research Group, Neurosciences Research Program, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
- Cognitive Impairment and Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital del Mar, Parc de Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Aida Fernández-Lebrero
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neurosciences Research Group, Neurosciences Research Program, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
- Cognitive Impairment and Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital del Mar, Parc de Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Rosa María Manero
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neurosciences Research Group, Neurosciences Research Program, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
- Cognitive Impairment and Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital del Mar, Parc de Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Irene Navalpotro-Gómez
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neurosciences Research Group, Neurosciences Research Program, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
- Cognitive Impairment and Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital del Mar, Parc de Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Marc Suárez-Calvet
- Cognitive Impairment and Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital del Mar, Parc de Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
- IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Madrid, Spain
| | - Oriol Grau-Rivera
- Cognitive Impairment and Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital del Mar, Parc de Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
- IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Madrid, Spain
| | - José Contador-Muñana
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neurosciences Research Group, Neurosciences Research Program, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
- Cognitive Impairment and Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital del Mar, Parc de Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Diego Cascales-Lahoz
- Cognitive Impairment and Movement Disorders Unit, Neurology Department, Hospital del Mar, Parc de Salut Mar, Barcelona, Spain
| | | | - Núncia Boltes
- Neurology Department, Hospital General de Granollers, Granollers, Spain
| | | | - Jordi Ortiz-Gil
- Neurology Department, Hospital General de Granollers, Granollers, Spain
- Psychology Unit, Hospital General de Granollers, Granollers, Spain
- Maria Angustias Gimenez Research Foundation (FIDMAG), Sant Boi del Llobregat, Spain
| | - Sara Carrillo-Molina
- Neurology Department, Hospital General de Granollers, Granollers, Spain
- Psychology Unit, Hospital General de Granollers, Granollers, Spain
| | - María Dolores López-Villegas
- IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain
- Centre Emili Mira, Institut de Neuropsiquiatria i Addiccions (INAD), Parc de Salut Mar, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain
| | - María Teresa Abellán-Vidal
- Centre Emili Mira, Institut de Neuropsiquiatria i Addiccions (INAD), Parc de Salut Mar, Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain
| | | | | | | | - Jordi Peña-Casanova
- Integrative Pharmacology and Systems Neurosciences Research Group, Neurosciences Research Program, Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Gonzalo Sánchez-Benavides
- Barcelonaβeta Brain Research Center (BBRC), Pasqual Maragall Foundation, Barcelona, Spain
- IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Fragilidad y Envejecimiento Saludable (CIBERFES), Madrid, Spain
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Lange KW, Lange KM, Nakamura Y. Green tea, epigallocatechin gallate and the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease: Clinical evidence. FOOD SCIENCE AND HUMAN WELLNESS 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fshw.2022.03.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Acute cognitive impairment after traumatic brain injury predicts the occurrence of brain atrophy patterns similar to those observed in Alzheimer's disease. GeroScience 2021; 43:2015-2039. [PMID: 33900530 DOI: 10.1007/s11357-021-00355-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are often followed by persistent structural brain alterations and by cognitive sequalae, including memory deficits, reduced neural processing speed, impaired social function, and decision-making difficulties. Although mild TBI (mTBI) is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD), the extent to which these conditions share patterns of macroscale neurodegeneration has not been quantified. Comparing such patterns can not only reveal how the neurodegenerative trajectories of TBI and AD are similar, but may also identify brain atrophy features which can be leveraged to prognosticate AD risk after TBI. The primary aim of this study is to systematically map how TBI affects white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) properties in AD-analogous patterns. Our findings identify substantial similarities in the regional macroscale neurodegeneration patterns associated with mTBI and AD. In cerebral GM, such similarities are most extensive in brain areas involved in memory and executive function, such as the temporal poles and orbitofrontal cortices, respectively. Our results indicate that the spatial pattern of cerebral WM degradation observed in AD is broadly similar to the pattern of diffuse axonal injury observed in TBI, which frequently affects WM structures like the fornix, corpus callosum, and corona radiata. Using machine learning, we find that the severity of AD-like brain changes observed during the chronic stage of mTBI can be accurately prognosticated based on acute assessments of post-traumatic mild cognitive impairment. These findings suggest that acute post-traumatic cognitive impairment predicts the magnitude of AD-like brain atrophy, which is itself associated with AD risk.
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Langley C, Gregory S, Osborne-Crowley K, O'Callaghan C, Zeun P, Lowe J, Johnson EB, Papoutsi M, Scahill RI, Rees G, Tabrizi SJ, Robbins TW, Sahakian BJ. Fronto-striatal circuits for cognitive flexibility in far from onset Huntington's disease: evidence from the Young Adult Study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2021; 92:143-149. [PMID: 33130575 PMCID: PMC7841479 DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2020-324104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/05/2020] [Revised: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/22/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Cognitive flexibility, which is key for adaptive decision-making, engages prefrontal cortex (PFC)-striatal circuitry and is impaired in both manifest and premanifest Huntington's disease (pre-HD). The aim of this study was to examine cognitive flexibility in a far from onset pre-HD cohort to determine whether an early impairment exists and if so, whether fronto-striatal circuits were associated with this deficit. METHODS In the present study, we examined performance of 51 pre-HD participants (mean age=29.22 (SD=5.71) years) from the HD Young Adult Study cohort and 53 controls matched for age, sex and IQ, on the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) Intra-Extra Dimensional Set-Shift (IED) task. This cohort is unique as it is the furthest from disease onset comprehensively studied to date (mean years=23.89 (SD=5.96) years). The IED task measures visual discrimination learning, cognitive flexibility and specifically attentional set-shifting. We used resting-state functional MRI to examine whether the functional connectivity between specific fronto-striatal circuits was dysfunctional in pre-HD, compared with controls, and whether these circuits were associated with performance on the critical extradimensional shift stage. RESULTS Our results demonstrated that the CANTAB IED task detects a mild early impairment in cognitive flexibility in a pre-HD group far from onset. Attentional set-shifting was significantly related to functional connectivity between the ventrolateral PFC and ventral striatum in healthy controls and to functional connectivity between the dorsolateral PFC and caudate in pre-HD participants. CONCLUSION We postulate that this incipient impairment of cognitive flexibility may be associated with intrinsically abnormal functional connectivity of fronto-striatal circuitry in pre-HD.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sarah Gregory
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative disease, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Katie Osborne-Crowley
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative disease, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
- Division of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Claire O'Callaghan
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Brain and Mind Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Paul Zeun
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative disease, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Jessica Lowe
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative disease, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Eileanoir B Johnson
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative disease, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Marina Papoutsi
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative disease, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Rachael I Scahill
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative disease, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Geraint Rees
- University College London Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL, London, UK
| | - Sarah J Tabrizi
- Huntington's Disease Centre, Department of Neurodegenerative disease, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Trevor W Robbins
- Department of Psychology and Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Wither RG, Boehnke SE, Lablans A, Armitage-Brown B, Munoz DP. Behavioral shaping of rhesus macaques using the Cambridge neuropsychological automated testing battery. J Neurosci Methods 2020; 342:108803. [PMID: 32534008 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2020.108803] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2020] [Revised: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 06/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Cambridge neuropsychological test automated battery (CANTAB) is a set of computerized visuospatial tests used to probe cognition in humans. The non-human primate (NHP) version of the battery is a valuable translational research tool to quantify cognitive changes in NHP models of disease by allowing direct comparison with performance data from human patient populations. One limitation is the long training times required for NHPs to reach appropriate levels of task performance, which is prohibitive for high throughput experimental designs. NEW METHOD We report a new training regimen to teach NHPs a subset of CANTAB cognitive tasks using a method of successive approximations (shaping), where rewarded behaviors progressively approximate the goal behavior, and sequential task learning is used to build upon previously learned rules. Using this refined method, we taught 9 adult rhesus macaques to perform three tasks: the self-ordered spatial search (SOSS), delayed match-to-sample (DMTS), and paired associative learning (PAL) tasks. RESULTS AND COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS NHPs learned all three cognitive tasks in approximately 130 training sessions, roughly 200 sessions faster than previously published training times. NHPs were able to perform each task to a stable level of performance (>80 % correct) enabling their use in future cognitive experiments. CONCLUSIONS Our approach of behavioral shaping reduced the time to train NHPs to performance criteria on SOSS, DMTS, and PAL tasks. This allows efficient use of the NHP-adapted CANTAB to compare cognitive changes in NHP models of neurological disease with those observed in human patient populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert G Wither
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
| | - Susan E Boehnke
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | - Ann Lablans
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
| | | | - Douglas P Munoz
- Centre for Neuroscience Studies, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
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Glikmann-Johnston Y, Carmichael AM, Mercieca EC, Stout JC. 'Real-life' hippocampal-dependent spatial memory impairments in Huntington's disease. Cortex 2019; 119:46-60. [PMID: 31071556 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2019.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2018] [Revised: 02/28/2019] [Accepted: 04/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Hippocampal-dependent spatial memory impairments are seen in Huntington's disease animal models. Similar impairments were recently reported in Huntington's disease participants on analogous spatial memory tasks (e.g., virtual Morris Water Maze), however, these tasks do not translate well to the range of functions involved in day-to-day spatial cognition. In this study we examined 'real-life' hippocampal-dependent spatial memory in Huntington's disease participants. We studied premanifest Huntington's disease (N = 24), early manifest Huntington's disease (N = 14), and matched healthy controls (N = 33) with a virtual environment, which demanded spatial memory function on three levels: navigation, object location, and plan drawing. To examine the case for hippocampal-dependent spatial memory more closely, we compared the performance of our Huntington's disease participants to that of a group of temporal lobe epilepsy patients (N = 30) who were previously tested on the virtual environment. Spatial memory performance was also compared to two common neuropsychological tests of spatial cognition, the Paired Associates Learning from the Cambridge Neuropsychological Automated Test Battery, and the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test. People with early manifest Huntington's disease were impaired across all spatial memory tasks. Premanifest Huntington's disease participants were most notably impaired on the object location measure of the virtual environment, which is heavily dependent on hippocampal function, but showed no such impairments on the Paired Associates Learning or the Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure Test. Object location memory and navigation performance did not differ between people with Huntington's disease and temporal lobe epilepsy. Aligned with studies in Huntington's disease animal models, 'real-life' spatial memory is impaired in people with Huntington's disease prior to clinical diagnosis. This alignment has important implications for testing treatments for Huntington's disease. From the standpoint of neurodegeneration, the dependence of our spatial memory measures on hippocampal function extends the focus of cognitive assessment research in Huntington's disease beyond its primary pathology within the striato-frontal circuit.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yifat Glikmann-Johnston
- Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia.
| | - Anna M Carmichael
- Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Emily-Clare Mercieca
- Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
| | - Julie C Stout
- Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia
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Lange KW, Guo J, Kanaya S, Lange KM, Nakamura Y, Li S. Medical foods in Alzheimer’s disease. FOOD SCIENCE AND HUMAN WELLNESS 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fshw.2019.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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11
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Spatial memory in Huntington’s disease: A comparative review of human and animal data. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2019; 98:194-207. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.01.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2018] [Revised: 11/26/2018] [Accepted: 01/14/2019] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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12
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Pathological role of apoptosis signal-regulating kinase 1 in human diseases and its potential as a therapeutic target for cognitive disorders. J Mol Med (Berl) 2019; 97:153-161. [DOI: 10.1007/s00109-018-01739-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2018] [Revised: 12/18/2018] [Accepted: 12/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
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13
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Jackson SAW, Horst NK, Axelsson SFA, Horiguchi N, Cockcroft GJ, Robbins TW, Roberts AC. Selective Role of the Putamen in Serial Reversal Learning in the Marmoset. Cereb Cortex 2019; 29:447-460. [PMID: 30395188 PMCID: PMC6294407 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhy276] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2018] [Revised: 09/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Fronto-striatal circuitry involving the orbitofrontal cortex has been identified as mediating successful reversal of stimulus-outcome contingencies. The region of the striatum that most contributes to reversal learning remains unclear, with studies in primates implicating both caudate nucleus and putamen. We trained four marmosets on a touchscreen-based serial reversal task and implanted each with cannulae targeting both putamen and caudate bilaterally. This allowed reversible inactivation of the two areas within the same monkeys, but across separate sessions, to directly investigate their respective contributions to reversal performance. Behavioral sensitivity to the GABAA agonist muscimol varied across subjects and between brain regions, so each marmoset received a range of doses. Intermediate doses of intra-putamen muscimol selectively impaired reversal performance, leaving the baseline discrimination phase unchanged. There was no effect of low doses and high doses were generally disruptive. By contrast, low doses of intra-caudate muscimol improved reversal performance, while high doses impaired both reversal and baseline discrimination performance. These data provide evidence for a specific role of the putamen in serial reversal learning, which may reflect the more habitual nature of repeated reversals using the same stimulus pair.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stacey A W Jackson
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
| | - Nicole K Horst
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sebastian F A Axelsson
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
| | - Naotaka Horiguchi
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
| | - Gemma J Cockcroft
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
| | - Trevor W Robbins
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
| | - Angela C Roberts
- Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, UK
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14
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Piiponniemi TO, Parkkari T, Heikkinen T, Puoliväli J, Park LC, Cachope R, Kopanitsa MV. Impaired Performance of the Q175 Mouse Model of Huntington's Disease in the Touch Screen Paired Associates Learning Task. Front Behav Neurosci 2018; 12:226. [PMID: 30333735 PMCID: PMC6176131 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00226] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2018] [Accepted: 09/10/2018] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Cognitive disturbances often predate characteristic motor dysfunction in individuals with Huntington’s disease (HD) and place an increasing burden on the HD patients and caregivers with the progression of the disorder. Therefore, application of maximally translational cognitive tests to animal models of HD is imperative for the development of treatments that could alleviate cognitive decline in human patients. Here, we examined the performance of the Q175 mouse knock-in model of HD in the touch screen version of the paired associates learning (PAL) task. We found that 10–11-month-old heterozygous Q175 mice had severely attenuated learning curve in the PAL task, which was conceptually similar to previously documented impaired performance of individuals with HD in the PAL task of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB). Besides high rate of errors in PAL task, Q175 mice exhibited considerably lower responding rate than age-matched wild-type (WT) animals. Our examination of effortful operant responding during fixed ratio (FR) and progressive ratio (PR) reinforcement schedules in a separate cohort of similar age confirmed slower and unselective performance of mutant animals, as observed during PAL task, but suggested that motivation to work for nutritional reward in the touch screen setting was similar in Q175 and WT mice. We also demonstrated that pronounced sensorimotor disturbances in Q175 mice can be detected at early touch screen testing stages, (e.g., during “Punish Incorrect” phase of operant pretraining), so we propose that shorter test routines may be utilised for more expedient studies of treatments aimed at the rescue of HD-related phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Larry C Park
- CHDI Management/CHDI Foundation, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Roger Cachope
- CHDI Management/CHDI Foundation, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Maksym V Kopanitsa
- Charles River Discovery Services, Kuopio, Finland.,UK Dementia Research Institute at Imperial College London, Division of Brain Sciences, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom
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15
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Morphological features in juvenile Huntington disease associated with cerebellar atrophy - magnetic resonance imaging morphometric analysis. Pediatr Radiol 2018; 48:1463-1471. [PMID: 29926145 DOI: 10.1007/s00247-018-4167-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2018] [Revised: 04/18/2018] [Accepted: 05/23/2018] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The imaging features of Huntington disease are well known in adults, unlike in juvenile-onset Huntington disease. OBJECTIVE To conduct a morphometric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) analysis in three juvenile Huntington disease patients (ages 2, 4 and 6 years old) to determine whether quantitative cerebral and cerebellar morphological metrics may provide diagnostically interesting patterns of cerebellar and cerebellar atrophy. MATERIALS AND METHODS We report the cases of three siblings with extremely early presentations of juvenile Huntington disease associated with dramatic expansions of the morbid paternal allele from 43 to more than 100 CAG trinucleotide repeats. Automatic segmentation of MRI images of the cerebrum and cerebellum was performed and volumes of cerebral substructures and cerebellar lobules of juvenile Huntington disease patients were compared to those of 30 normal gender- and age-matched controls. Juvenile Huntington disease segmented volumes were compared to those of age-matched controls by using a z-score. RESULTS Three cerebral substructures (caudate nucleus, putamen and globus pallidus) demonstrated a reduction in size of more than three standard deviations from the normal mean although it was not salient in one of them at clinical reading and was not diagnosed. The size of cerebellum lobules, cerebellum grey matter and cerebellum cortex was reduced by more than two standard deviations in the three patients. The cerebellar atrophy was predominant in the posterior lobe. CONCLUSION Our study sheds light on atrophic cerebral and cerebellar structures in juvenile Huntington disease. Automatic segmentations of the cerebellum provide patterns that may be of diagnostic interest in this disease.
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16
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Coppen EM, van der Grond J, Hart EP, Lakke EAJF, Roos RAC. The visual cortex and visual cognition in Huntington's disease: An overview of current literature. Behav Brain Res 2018; 351:63-74. [PMID: 29792890 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.05.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2018] [Revised: 05/01/2018] [Accepted: 05/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The processing of visual stimuli from retina to higher cortical areas has been extensively studied in the human brain. In Huntington's disease (HD), an inherited neurodegenerative disorder, it is suggested that visual processing deficits are present in addition to more characteristic signs such as motor disturbances, cognitive dysfunction, and behavioral changes. Visual deficits are clinically important because they influence overall cognitive performance and have implications for daily functioning. The aim of this review is to summarize current literature on clinical visual deficits, visual cognitive impairment, and underlying visual cortical changes in HD patients. A literature search was conducted using the electronic database of PubMed/Medline. This review shows that changes of the visual system in patients with HD were not the primary focus of currently published studies. Still, early atrophy and alterations of the posterior cerebral cortex was frequently observed, primarily in the associative visual cortical areas such as the lingual and fusiform gyri, and lateral occipital cortex. Changes were even present in the premanifest phase, before clinical onset of motor symptoms, suggesting a primary region for cortical degeneration in HD. Although impairments in visuospatial processing and visual perception were reported in early disease stages, heterogeneous cognitive batteries were used, making a direct comparison between studies difficult. The use of a standardized battery of visual cognitive tasks might therefore provide more detailed information regarding the extent of impairments in specific visual domains. Further research could provide more insight into clinical, functional, and pathophysiological changes of the visual pathway in HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma M Coppen
- Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Jeroen van der Grond
- Department of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Ellen P Hart
- Centre for Human Drug Research, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Egbert A J F Lakke
- Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Raymund A C Roos
- Department of Neurology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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17
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Roman OC, Stovall J, Claassen DO. Perseveration and Suicide in Huntington's Disease. J Huntingtons Dis 2018; 7:185-187. [PMID: 29614688 DOI: 10.3233/jhd-170249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Huntington's disease (HD) patients are at significantly higher risk of suicidal behavior, and associated cognitive and behavioral factors play an important role. Impulsivity is commonly thought to be a risk factor, but does not completely account for all suicide attempts. OBJECTIVE To provide clinical evidence that perseverative behavior may precipitate suicide attempts in HD. METHODS Case review of four HD patients who attempted suicide. RESULTS Each patient demonstrated a clinical history of perseverative behavior, and endorsed perseveration on upsetting thoughts leading up to their suicide attempts. The attempts were planned in response to these ruminations. CONCLUSIONS The patients in this series experienced uncontrollable distressful thoughts prior to their thoughtfully planned suicide attempts. These patients did not appear to act impulsively in their decision to attempt suicide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia C Roman
- School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Jeffrey Stovall
- Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Daniel O Claassen
- Department of Neurology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA
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18
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Progress in developing transgenic monkey model for Huntington's disease. J Neural Transm (Vienna) 2017; 125:401-417. [PMID: 29127484 DOI: 10.1007/s00702-017-1803-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2016] [Accepted: 10/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a complex neurodegenerative disorder that has no cure. Although treatments can often be given to relieve symptoms, the neuropathology associated with HD cannot be stopped or reversed. HD is characterized by degeneration of the striatum and associated pathways that leads to impairment in motor and cognitive functions as well as psychiatric disturbances. Although cell and rodent models for HD exist, longitudinal study in a transgenic HD nonhuman primate (i.e., rhesus macaque; HD monkeys) shows high similarity in its progression with human patients. Progressive brain atrophy and changes in white matter integrity examined by magnetic resonance imaging are coherent with the decline in cognitive behaviors related to corticostriatal functions and neuropathology. HD monkeys also express higher anxiety and irritability/aggression similar to human HD patients that other model systems have not yet replicated. While a comparative model approach is critical for advancing our understanding of HD pathogenesis, HD monkeys could provide a unique platform for preclinical studies and long-term assessment of translatable outcome measures. This review summarizes the progress in the development of the transgenic HD monkey model and the opportunities for advancing HD preclinical research.
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19
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Of rodents and men: understanding the emergence of motor and cognitive symptoms in Huntington disease. Behav Pharmacol 2017; 27:403-14. [PMID: 26886208 DOI: 10.1097/fbp.0000000000000217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Arguably, one of the most important milestones in Huntington disease research since the discovery of the gene responsible has been the generation of different genetic animal models. Although clinical reports have shown evidence of progressive cognitive impairments in gene carriers before motor symptoms are diagnosed, such symptoms have been much less obvious in animal models. In this review, we summarize the three main classes of animal models for Huntington disease and describe some relevant translational assays for behavioural deficits evaluation. Finally, we argue that a good knowledge of the emergence of motor and cognitive symptoms in mice and rat models is indispensable for the selection of endpoint measures in early preclinical drug screening studies.
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20
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Ramaswamy S, Shannon KM, Kordower JH. Huntington's Disease: Pathological Mechanisms and Therapeutic Strategies. Cell Transplant 2017; 16:301-12. [PMID: 17503740 DOI: 10.3727/000000007783464687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder that occurs in patients with a mutation in the huntingtin or IT15 gene. Patients are plagued by early cognitive signs, motor deficits, and psychiatric disturbances. Symptoms are attributed to cell death in the striatum and disruption of cortical–striatal circuitry. Mechanisms of cell death are unclear, but processes involving mitochondrial abnormalities, excitotoxicity, and abnormal protein degradation have been implicated. Many factors likely contribute to neuron death and dysfunction, and this has made it difficult to systematically address the pathology in HD. Pharmaceutical therapies are commonly used in patients to treat disease symptoms. These have limited benefit and do not address the inexorable disease progression. Several neuroprotective therapies are being evaluated in animal models of HD as well as in clinical trials. Similarly, cell replacement strategies such as fetal transplantation have been used in the clinic with minimal success, making future cell replacement strategies such as stem cell therapy uncertain. This review describes the disease pathology in HD and addresses many of the past and emerging therapeutic strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shilpa Ramaswamy
- Department of Neuroscience, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
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21
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Satler C, Guimarães L, Tomaz C. Planning ability impairments in probable Alzheimer's disease patients: Evidence from the Tower of London test. Dement Neuropsychol 2017; 11:137-144. [PMID: 29213505 PMCID: PMC5710682 DOI: 10.1590/1980-57642016dn11-020006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with progressive impairment of
higher-level cognitive abilities. Previous research suggests that early
impairment of executive functions occurs during the course of the disease, but
few studies have specifically investigated planning ability in an AD
population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Corina Satler
- PhD, Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Ceilandia, UnB, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, DF, Brazil
| | - Luiza Guimarães
- Undergraduate Student, Laboratory of Neurosciences and Behavior, Department of Physiological Sciences, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, DF, Brazil
| | - Carlos Tomaz
- Undergraduate Student, Laboratory of Neurosciences and Behavior, Department of Physiological Sciences, University of Brasilia, Brasilia, DF, Brazil.,PhD, Full Professor, Neuroscience Research Program, University CEUMA, São Luis, MA, Brazil
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22
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Corey-Bloom J, Gluhm S, Herndon A, Haque AS, Park S, Gilbert PE. Benton Judgment of Line Orientation (JoLO) Test: A Brief and Useful Measure for Assessing Visuospatial Abilities in Manifest, but not Premanifest, Huntington's Disease. J Huntingtons Dis 2016; 5:91-6. [PMID: 27003664 DOI: 10.3233/jhd-150175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Visuospatial deficits have been described in Huntington's disease (HD); however, the extent of these deficits remains unclear. The Benton Judgment of Line Orientation (JoLO) Test, commonly used to assess visuospatial ability, requires minimal motor involvement. It has demonstrated sensitivity to visuospatial deficits in Parkinson's disease; however, few studies have examined performance on this test in HD. OBJECTIVE The objective of the current study was to assess visuospatial ability in premanifest and manifest HD using the JoLO. METHODS A global cognitive measure, the Mattis Dementia Rating Scale (DRS), was used to stratify manifest HD patients as mild (DRS ≥129) vs. moderate-severe (DRS ≤128). Fifty mild, 42 moderate-severe, and 30 premanifest HD subjects, as well as 35 matched controls, were administered the JoLO. HD Burden of Pathology (BOP) scores were used as a measure of disease severity. RESULTS Results revealed that the total manifest HD sample (p < 0.001), in addition to the mild (p = 0.028), and moderate-severe (p < 0.001), but not premanifest, HD subjects scored significantly lower on the JoLO compared to normal controls. CONCLUSIONS Our results suggest that the JoLO is useful for detecting visuospatial deficits across various stages of manifest HD. However, any visuospatial impairment that might be present during the premanifest stage of HD was not detected using the JoLO in the present sample.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jody Corey-Bloom
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Shea Gluhm
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Andrew Herndon
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Ameera S Haque
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Sungmee Park
- Department of Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Paul E Gilbert
- San Diego State University-University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA
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23
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Translational Assays for Assessment of Cognition in Rodent Models of Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia. J Mol Neurosci 2016; 60:371-382. [DOI: 10.1007/s12031-016-0837-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2016] [Accepted: 08/31/2016] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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24
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Noroozian M. Alzheimer's Disease: Prototype of Cognitive Deterioration, Valuable Lessons to Understand Human Cognition. Neurol Clin 2016; 34:69-131. [PMID: 26613996 DOI: 10.1016/j.ncl.2015.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
It is important for neurologists to become more familiar with neuropsychological evaluation for Alzheimer disease. The growth of this method in research, as an available, inexpensive, and noninvasive diagnostic approach, which can be administered even by non-specialist-trained examiners, makes this knowledge more necessary than ever. Such knowledge has a basic role in planning national programs in primary health care systems for prevention and early detection of Alzheimer disease. This is more crucial in developing countries, which have higher rates of dementia prevalence along with cardiovascular risk factors, lack of public knowledge about dementia, and limited social support. In addition compared to the neurological hard signs which are tangible and measurable, the concept of cognition seems to be more difficult for the neurologists to evaluate and for the students to understand. Dementia in general and Alzheimer's disease as the prototype of cognitive disorders specifically, play an important role to explore all domains of human cognition through its symptomatology and neuropsychological deficits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maryam Noroozian
- Memory and Behavioral Neurology Division, Department of Psychiatry, Roozbeh Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 606 South Kargar Avenue, Tehran 1333795914, Iran.
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25
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Begeti F, Schwab LC, Mason SL, Barker RA. Hippocampal dysfunction defines disease onset in Huntington's disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2016; 87:975-81. [PMID: 26833174 DOI: 10.1136/jnnp-2015-312413] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/05/2015] [Accepted: 01/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder characterised by a triad of motor, psychiatric and cognitive deficits with the latter classically attributed to disruption of frontostriatal networks. However, emerging evidence from animal models of HD suggests that some of the early cognitive deficits may have a hippocampal basis. The objective of this study was to link previous rodent findings in this area to clinical practice. METHODS In this study, 94 participants included patients with early HD, premanifest HD and age-matched controls underwent hippocampal-based cognitive assessments. These included a virtual reality version of the Morris water maze, a task involved participants having to swim through a virtual pool to find a submerged platform using a joystick, and the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) paired associates learning task, a test also known to rely on hippocampal integrity. RESULTS Patients with early HD showed impaired performance in both the virtual Morris water maze and the CANTAB paired associates learning. Such deficits were also correlated with estimated years to diagnosis in premanifest participants. CONCLUSIONS This study highlights the merit of using analogous tests in the laboratory and clinic and demonstrates that hippocampal impairments are an early feature of HD in patients as previously shown in rodent models of the disease. As such, they could be used not only to assist in the diagnosis of disease onset, but may also be useful as an outcome measure in future therapeutic trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faye Begeti
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John van Geest Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Laetitia C Schwab
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John van Geest Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sarah L Mason
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John van Geest Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Roger A Barker
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John van Geest Centre for Brain Repair, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Department of Neurology, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK
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26
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Barnett JH, Blackwell AD, Sahakian BJ, Robbins TW. The Paired Associates Learning (PAL) Test: 30 Years of CANTAB Translational Neuroscience from Laboratory to Bedside in Dementia Research. Curr Top Behav Neurosci 2016; 28:449-74. [PMID: 27646012 DOI: 10.1007/7854_2015_5001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
The origins and rationale of the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) as a cross-species translational instrument suitable for use in human neuropsychopharmacological studies are reviewed. We focus on its use for the early assessment and detection of Alzheimer's disease, in particular the Paired Associates Learning (PAL) test. We consider its psychometric properties, neural validation, and utility, including studies on large samples of healthy volunteers, patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and Alzheimer's disease. We demonstrate how it can be applied in cross-species studies using experimental animals to bridge the cross-species translational 'gap'. We also show how the CANTAB PAL has bridged a second translational 'gap' through its application to the early detection of memory problems in primary care clinics, using iPad technology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer H Barnett
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- Cambridge Cognition, Cambridge, UK.
| | - Andrew D Blackwell
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Cambridge Cognition, Cambridge, UK
| | - Barbara J Sahakian
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Medical Research Council/Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Cambridge, UK
| | - Trevor W Robbins
- Medical Research Council/Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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27
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McBride SD, Perentos N, Morton AJ. A mobile, high-throughput semi-automated system for testing cognition in large non-primate animal models of Huntington disease. J Neurosci Methods 2015; 265:25-33. [PMID: 26327320 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2015.08.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2015] [Revised: 08/21/2015] [Accepted: 08/21/2015] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND For reasons of cost and ethical concerns, models of neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington disease (HD) are currently being developed in farm animals, as an alternative to non-human primates. Developing reliable methods of testing cognitive function is essential to determining the usefulness of such models. Nevertheless, cognitive testing of farm animal species presents a unique set of challenges. The primary aims of this study were to develop and validate a mobile operant system suitable for high throughput cognitive testing of sheep. NEW METHOD We designed a semi-automated testing system with the capability of presenting stimuli (visual, auditory) and reward at six spatial locations. Fourteen normal sheep were used to validate the system using a two-choice visual discrimination task. Four stages of training devised to acclimatise animals to the system are also presented. RESULTS All sheep progressed rapidly through the training stages, over eight sessions. All sheep learned the 2CVDT and performed at least one reversal stage. The mean number of trials the sheep took to reach criterion in the first acquisition learning was 13.9±1.5 and for the reversal learning was 19.1±1.8. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S) This is the first mobile semi-automated operant system developed for testing cognitive function in sheep. CONCLUSIONS We have designed and validated an automated operant behavioural testing system suitable for high throughput cognitive testing in sheep and other medium-sized quadrupeds, such as pigs and dogs. Sheep performance in the two-choice visual discrimination task was very similar to that reported for non-human primates and strongly supports the use of farm animals as pre-clinical models for the study of neurodegenerative diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian D McBride
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK
| | - Nicholas Perentos
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK
| | - A Jennifer Morton
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DY, UK.
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28
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Nilsson SRO, Alsiö J, Somerville EM, Clifton PG. The rat's not for turning: Dissociating the psychological components of cognitive inflexibility. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2015; 56:1-14. [PMID: 26112128 PMCID: PMC4726702 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2015.06.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2014] [Revised: 05/13/2015] [Accepted: 06/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Non-rewarded or irrelevant prior associations are important for flexible responding. Associations of reward and non-reward in reversal learning are neurally dissociable. Disruption of prior irrelevant or rewarded associations cause pathological deficits. Experimental paradigms of cognitive flexibility can be improved to aid translation.
Executive function is commonly assessed by assays of cognitive flexibility such as reversal learning and attentional set-shifting. Disrupted performance in these assays, apparent in many neuropsychiatric disorders, is frequently interpreted as inability to overcome prior associations with reward. However, non-rewarded or irrelevant associations may be of considerable importance in both discrimination learning and cognitive flexibility. Non-rewarded associations can have greater influence on choice behaviour than rewarded associations in discrimination learning. Pathology-related deficits in cognitive flexibility can produce selective disruptions to both the processing of irrelevant associations and associations with reward. Genetic and pharmacological animal models demonstrate that modulation of reversal learning may result from alterations in either rewarded or non-rewarded associations. Successful performance in assays of cognitive flexibility can therefore depend on a combination of rewarded, non-rewarded, and irrelevant associations derived from previous learning, accounting for some inconsistencies observed in the literature. Taking this combination into account may increase the validity of animal models and may also reveal pathology-specific differences in problem solving and executive function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon R O Nilsson
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK; MRC and Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK..
| | - Johan Alsiö
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK; MRC and Wellcome Trust Behavioural and Clinical Neuroscience Institute, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EB, UK.; Department of Neuroscience, Unit of Functional Neurobiology, University of Uppsala, SE-75124 Uppsala, Sweden
| | | | - Peter G Clifton
- School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
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Dallérac GM, Levasseur G, Vatsavayai SC, Milnerwood AJ, Cummings DM, Kraev I, Huetz C, Evans KA, Walters SW, Rezaie P, Cho Y, Hirst MC, Murphy KP. Dysfunctional Dopaminergic Neurones in Mouse Models of Huntington's Disease: A Role for SK3 Channels. NEURODEGENER DIS 2015; 15:93-108. [DOI: 10.1159/000375126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2014] [Accepted: 01/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
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Rüb U, Seidel K, Vonsattel JP, Lange HW, Eisenmenger W, Götz M, Del Turco D, Bouzrou M, Korf HW, Heinsen H. Huntington's Disease (HD): Neurodegeneration of Brodmann's Primary Visual Area 17 (BA17). Brain Pathol 2015; 25:701-11. [PMID: 25495445 DOI: 10.1111/bpa.12237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2014] [Accepted: 12/03/2014] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD), an autosomal dominantly inherited polyglutamine or CAG repeat disease along with somatomotor, oculomotor, psychiatric and cognitive symptoms, presents clinically with impairments of elementary and complex visual functions as well as altered visual-evoked potentials (VEPs). Previous volumetric and pathoanatomical post-mortem investigations pointed to an involvement of Brodmann's primary visual area 17 (BA17) in HD. Because the involvement of BA17 could be interpreted as an early onset brain neurodegeneration, we further characterized this potential primary cortical site of HD-related neurodegeneration neuropathologically and performed an unbiased estimation of the absolute nerve cell number in thick gallocyanin-stained frontoparallel tissue sections through the striate area of seven control individuals and seven HD patients using Cavalieri's principle for volume and the optical disector for nerve and glial cell density estimations. This investigation showed a reduction of the estimated absolute nerve cell number of BA17 in the HD patients (71,044,037 ± 12,740,515 nerve cells) of 32% in comparison with the control individuals (104,075,067 ± 9,424,491 nerve cells) (Mann-Whitney U-test; P < 0.001). Additional pathoanatomical studies showed that nerve cell loss was most prominent in the outer pyramidal layer III, the inner granular layers IVa and IVc as well as in the multiform layer VI of BA17 of the HD patients. Our neuropathological results in BA17 confirm and extend previous post-mortem, biochemical and in vivo neuroradiological HD findings and offer suitable explanations for the elementary and complex visual dysfunctions, as well as for the altered VEP observed in HD patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Udo Rüb
- Dr. Senckenbergisches Chronomedizinisches Institut, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Kay Seidel
- Dr. Senckenbergisches Chronomedizinisches Institut, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Jean Paul Vonsattel
- The New York Brain Bank/Taub Institute, The Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University, New York, NY
| | - Herwig W Lange
- Chorea Center, Department of Neurology, University of Muenster, Münster, Germany
| | | | - Monika Götz
- Institute of Pathology, Aschaffenburg Hospital, Aschaffenburg, Germany
| | - Domenico Del Turco
- Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience Center, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Mohamed Bouzrou
- Dr. Senckenbergisches Chronomedizinisches Institut, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Horst-Werner Korf
- Dr. Senckenbergisches Chronomedizinisches Institut, Goethe-University, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Helmut Heinsen
- Morphological Brain Research Unit, Psychiatric Clinic, Julius Maximilians University Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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Abstract
Attentional set-shifting, as a measure of executive flexibility, has been a staple of investigations into human cognition for over six decades. Mediated by the frontal cortex in mammals, the cognitive processes involved in forming, maintaining and shifting an attentional set are vulnerable to dysfunction arising from a number of human neurodegenerative diseases (such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases) and other neurological disorders (such as schizophrenia, depression, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder). Our understanding of these diseases and disorders, and the cognitive impairments induced by them, continues to advance, in tandem with an increasing number of tools at our disposal. In this chapter, we review and compare commonly used attentional set-shifting tasks (the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task and Intradimensional/Extradimensional tasks) and their applicability across species. In addition to humans, attentional set-shifting has been observed in a number of other animals, with a substantial body of literature describing performance in monkeys and rodents. We consider the task designs used to investigate attentional set-shifting in these species and the methods used to model human diseases and disorders, and ultimately the comparisons and differences between species-specific tasks, and between performance across species.
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Marangoni M, Adalbert R, Janeckova L, Patrick J, Kohli J, Coleman MP, Conforti L. Age-related axonal swellings precede other neuropathological hallmarks in a knock-in mouse model of Huntington's disease. Neurobiol Aging 2014; 35:2382-93. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2014.04.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2013] [Revised: 04/20/2014] [Accepted: 04/23/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Kalkhoven C, Sennef C, Peeters A, van den Bos R. Risk-taking and pathological gambling behavior in Huntington's disease. Front Behav Neurosci 2014; 8:103. [PMID: 24765067 PMCID: PMC3980094 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2013] [Accepted: 03/12/2014] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a genetic, neurodegenerative disorder, which specifically affects striatal neurons of the indirect pathway, resulting in a progressive decline in muscle coordination and loss of emotional and cognitive control. Interestingly, predisposition to pathological gambling and other addictions involves disturbances in the same cortico-striatal circuits that are affected in HD, and display similar disinhibition-related symptoms, including changed sensitivity to punishments and rewards, impulsivity, and inability to consider long-term advantages over short-term rewards. Both HD patients and pathological gamblers also show similar performance deficits on risky decision-making tasks, such as the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT). These similarities suggest that HD patients are a likely risk group for gambling problems. However, such problems have only incidentally been observed in HD patients. In this review, we aim to characterize the risk of pathological gambling in HD, as well as the underlying neurobiological mechanisms. Especially with the current rise of easily accessible Internet gambling opportunities, it is important to understand these risks and provide appropriate patient support accordingly. Based on neuropathological and behavioral findings, we propose that HD patients may not have an increased tendency to seek risks and start gambling, but that they do have an increased chance of developing an addiction once they engage in gambling activities. Therefore, current and future developments of Internet gambling possibilities and related addictions should be regarded with care, especially for vulnerable groups like HD patients.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Ruud van den Bos
- Department of Organismal Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, Radboud University NijmegenNijmegen, Netherlands
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Chan AW, Xu Y, Jiang J, Rahim T, Zhao D, Kocerha J, Chi T, Moran S, Engelhardt H, Larkin K, Neumann A, Cheng H, Li C, Nelson K, Banta H, Zola SM, Villinger F, Yang J, Testa CM, Mao H, Zhang X, Bachevalier J. A two years longitudinal study of a transgenic Huntington disease monkey. BMC Neurosci 2014; 15:36. [PMID: 24581271 PMCID: PMC4015530 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2202-15-36] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2013] [Accepted: 02/05/2014] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Background A two-year longitudinal study composed of morphometric MRI measures and cognitive behavioral evaluation was performed on a transgenic Huntington’s disease (HD) monkey. rHD1, a transgenic HD monkey expressing exon 1 of the human gene encoding huntingtin (HTT) with 29 CAG repeats regulated by a human polyubiquitin C promoter was used together with four age-matched wild-type control monkeys. This is the first study on a primate model of human HD based on longitudinal clinical measurements. Results Changes in striatal and hippocampal volumes in rHD1 were observed with progressive impairment in motor functions and cognitive decline, including deficits in learning stimulus-reward associations, recognition memory and spatial memory. The results demonstrate a progressive cognitive decline and morphometric changes in the striatum and hippocampus in a transgenic HD monkey. Conclusions This is the first study on a primate model of human HD based on longitudinal clinical measurements. While this study is based a single HD monkey, an ongoing longitudinal study with additional HD monkeys will be important for the confirmation of our findings. A nonhuman primate model of HD could complement other animal models of HD to better understand the pathogenesis of HD and future development of diagnostics and therapeutics through longitudinal assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anthony Ws Chan
- Division of Neuropharmacology and Neurologic Diseases, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
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Beglinger LJ, Adams WH, Langbehn D, Fiedorowicz JG, Jorge R, Biglan K, Caviness J, Olson B, Robinson RG, Kieburtz K, Paulsen JS. Results of the citalopram to enhance cognition in Huntington disease trial. Mov Disord 2013; 29:401-5. [PMID: 24375941 DOI: 10.1002/mds.25750] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/22/2013] [Revised: 10/16/2013] [Accepted: 10/21/2013] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to evaluate citalopram for executive functioning in Huntington's disease (HD). METHODS The study was randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled. Thirty-three adults with HD, cognitive complaints, and no depression (Hamilton Depression [HAM-D] rating scale ≤ 12) were administered citalopram 20 mg or placebo (7 visits, 20 weeks), with practice and placebo run-ins. The primary outcome was change in executive functioning. RESULTS The intent to treat analysis was controlled for practice effects, comparing visits 1 and 2 to visits 5 and 6 for citalopram versus placebo. There were no significant benefits on the executive function composite (treatment-placebo mean difference -0.167; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.361 to 0.028; P = .092). Citalopram participants showed improved clinician-rated depression symptoms on the HAM-D (t = -2.02; P = 0.05). There were no group differences on motor ratings, self-reported executive functions, psychiatric symptoms, or functional status. CONCLUSIONS There was no evidence that short-term treatment with citalopram improved executive functions in HD. Despite excluding patients with active depression, participants on citalopram showed improved mood, raising the possibility of efficacy for subsyndromal depression in HD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leigh J Beglinger
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA; Neurological program, Elks Rehab Hospital, Boise, Idaho, USA
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Soluble N-terminal fragment of mutant Huntingtin protein impairs mitochondrial axonal transport in cultured hippocampal neurons. Neurosci Bull 2013; 30:74-80. [PMID: 24362588 DOI: 10.1007/s12264-013-1393-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2013] [Accepted: 05/24/2013] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant, progressive, neurodegenerative disorder caused by an unstable expansion of CAG repeats (>35 repeats) within exon 1 of the interesting transcript 15 (IT15) gene. This gene encodes a protein called Huntingtin (Htt), and mutation of the gene results in a polyglutamine (polyQ) near the N-terminus of Htt. The N-terminal fragments of mutant Htt (mHtt), which tend to aggregate, are sufficient to cause HD. Whether these aggregates are causal or protective for HD remains hotly debated. Dysfunctional mitochondrial axonal transport is associated with HD. It remains unknown whether the soluble or aggregated form of mHtt is the primary cause of the impaired mitochondrial axonal transport in HD pathology. Here, we investigated the impact of soluble and aggregated N-terminal fragments of mHtt on mitochondrial axonal transport in cultured hippocampal neurons. We found that the N-terminal fragment of mHtt formed aggregates in almost half of the transfected neurons. Overexpression of the N-terminal fragment of mHtt decreased the velocity of mitochondrial axonal transport and mitochondrial mobility in neurons regardless of whether aggregates were formed. However, the impairment of mitochondrial axonal transport in neurons expressing the soluble and aggregated N-terminal fragments of mHtt did not differ. Our findings indicate that both the soluble and aggregated N-terminal fragments of mHtt impair mitochondrial axonal transport in cultured hippocampal neurons. We predict that dysfunction of mitochondrial axonal transport is an early-stage event in the progression of HD, even before mHtt aggregates are formed.
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Pirogovsky E, Nicoll DR, Challener DM, Breen E, Gluhm S, Corey-Bloom J, Gilbert PE. The Visual Spatial Learning Test: Differential impairment during the premanifest and manifest stages of Huntington's disease. J Neuropsychol 2013; 9:77-86. [DOI: 10.1111/jnp.12036] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2013] [Revised: 11/04/2013] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Eva Pirogovsky
- Veterans Affairs; San Diego Health Care System; San Diego California USA
- Department of Psychiatry; University of California San Diego; California USA
| | - Diane R. Nicoll
- Department of Psychology; San Diego State University; San Diego California USA
| | - Dillon M. Challener
- Department of Psychology; San Diego State University; San Diego California USA
| | - Elizabeth Breen
- Department of Neuroscience; University of California San Diego; California USA
| | - Shea Gluhm
- Department of Neuroscience; University of California San Diego; California USA
| | - Jody Corey-Bloom
- Department of Neuroscience; University of California San Diego; California USA
| | - Paul E. Gilbert
- Department of Psychology; San Diego State University; San Diego California USA
- San Diego State University - University of California San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology; San Diego California USA
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Measuring the construct of executive control in schizophrenia: Defining and validating translational animal paradigms for discovery research. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2013; 37:2125-40. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 62] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2011] [Revised: 03/20/2012] [Accepted: 04/03/2012] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Horner AE, Heath CJ, Hvoslef-Eide M, Kent BA, Kim CH, Nilsson SRO, Alsiö J, Oomen CA, Holmes A, Saksida LM, Bussey TJ. The touchscreen operant platform for testing learning and memory in rats and mice. Nat Protoc 2013; 8:1961-84. [PMID: 24051959 PMCID: PMC3914026 DOI: 10.1038/nprot.2013.122] [Citation(s) in RCA: 269] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
An increasingly popular method of assessing cognitive functions in rodents is the automated touchscreen platform, on which a number of different cognitive tests can be run in a manner very similar to touchscreen methods currently used to test human subjects. This methodology is low stress (using appetitive rather than aversive reinforcement), has high translational potential and lends itself to a high degree of standardization and throughput. Applications include the study of cognition in rodent models of psychiatric and neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, Huntington's disease, frontotemporal dementia), as well as the characterization of the role of select brain regions, neurotransmitter systems and genes in rodents. This protocol describes how to perform four touchscreen assays of learning and memory: visual discrimination, object-location paired-associates learning, visuomotor conditional learning and autoshaping. It is accompanied by two further protocols (also published in this issue) that use the touchscreen platform to assess executive function, working memory and pattern separation.
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Executive functions in clinical and preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Rev Neurol (Paris) 2013; 169:695-708. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neurol.2013.07.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2013] [Revised: 07/23/2013] [Accepted: 07/23/2013] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
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Allosteric modulation of GABA(A) receptor subtypes:effects on visual recognition and visuospatial working memory in rhesus monkeys [corrected]. Neuropsychopharmacology 2013; 38:2315-25. [PMID: 23722241 PMCID: PMC3773684 DOI: 10.1038/npp.2013.137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2013] [Revised: 05/21/2013] [Accepted: 05/21/2013] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Non-selective positive allosteric modulators (PAMs) of GABAA receptors (GABAARs) are known to impair anterograde memory. The role of the various GABAAR subtypes in the memory-impairing effects of non-selective GABAAR PAMs has not been fully elucidated. The current study assessed, in rhesus monkeys, effects of modulation of α1, α2/3, and α5GABAARs on visual recognition and spatial working memory using delayed matching-to-sample (DMTS) and self-ordered spatial search (SOSS) procedures, respectively. The DMTS procedure (n=8) involved selecting a previously presented 'sample' image from a set of multiple images presented after a delay. The SOSS procedure (n=6) involved touching a number of boxes without repeats. The non-selective GABAAR PAM triazolam and the α1GABAA preferential PAMS zolpidem and zaleplon reduced accuracy in both procedures, whereas the α5GABAA preferential PAMs SH-053-2'F-R-CH3 and SH-053-2'F-S-CH3, and the α2/3GABAA preferential PAM TPA023B were without effects on accuracy or trial completion. The low-efficacy α5GABAAR negative allosteric modulator (NAM) PWZ-029 slightly increased only DMTS accuracy, whereas the high-efficacy α5GABAAR NAMs RY-23 and RY-24 did not affect accuracy under either procedure. Finally, the slopes of the accuracy dose-effect curves for triazolam, zolpidem, and zaleplon increased with box number in the SOSS procedure, but were equivalent across DMTS delays. The present results suggest that (1) α1GABAARs, compared with α2/3 and α5GABAARs, are primarily involved in the impairment, by non-selective GABAAR PAMs, of visual recognition and visuospatial working memory in nonhuman primates; and (2) relative cognitive impairment produced by positive modulation of GABAARs increases with number of locations to be remembered, but not with the delay for remembering.
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Lindgren HS, Wickens R, Tait DS, Brown VJ, Dunnett SB. Lesions of the dorsomedial striatum impair formation of attentional set in rats. Neuropharmacology 2013; 71:148-53. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2013.03.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2012] [Revised: 03/04/2013] [Accepted: 03/12/2013] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Abstract
Phenotyping with traditional behavioral assays constitutes a major bottleneck in the primary screening, characterization, and validation of genetic mouse models of disease, leading to downstream delays in drug discovery efforts. We present a novel and comprehensive one-stop approach to phenotyping, the PhenoCube™. This system simultaneously captures the cognitive performance, motor activity, and circadian patterns of group-housed mice by use of home-cage operant conditioning modules (IntelliCage) and custom-built computer vision software. We evaluated two different mouse models of Huntington’s Disease (HD), the R6/2 and the BACHD in the PhenoCube™ system. Our results demonstrated that this system can efficiently capture and track alterations in both cognitive performance and locomotor activity patterns associated with these disease models. This work extends our prior demonstration that PhenoCube™ can characterize circadian dysfunction in BACHD mice and shows that this system, with the experimental protocols used, is a sensitive and efficient tool for a first pass high-throughput screening of mouse disease models in general and mouse models of neurodegeneration in particular.
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Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited neurodegenerative disease that is characterized by movement abnormalities, cognitive impairment, and abnormal behavior as well as sleep and weight problems. It is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by a mutation in the huntingtin gene on the short arm of chromosome 4, which results in the progressive degeneration of the basal ganglia (caudate, putamen, and globus pallidus), cerebral cortex, brainstem, thalamus, and hypothalamus. This chapter considers four avenues of research: (a) the restoration of neurogenesis as an endogenous cell therapy in HD, (b) fetal tissue transplantation, (c) stem cell transplantation, and finally (d) the use of endogenous trophic factors such as brain derived neurotrophic factor.
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Bezdicek O, Majerova V, Novak M, Nikolai T, Ruzicka E, Roth J. Validity of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment in the Detection of Cognitive Dysfunction in Huntington's Disease. APPLIED NEUROPSYCHOLOGY-ADULT 2012; 20:33-40. [DOI: 10.1080/09084282.2012.670158] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ondrej Bezdicek
- a Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience , First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University in Prague , Prague , Czech Republic
| | - Veronika Majerova
- a Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience , First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University in Prague , Prague , Czech Republic
| | - Marek Novak
- b Department of Biomedical Statistics , Institute of Biophysics and Informatics, Charles University in Prague , Prague , Czech Republic
| | - Tomas Nikolai
- a Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience , First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University in Prague , Prague , Czech Republic
| | - Evzen Ruzicka
- a Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience , First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University in Prague , Prague , Czech Republic
| | - Jan Roth
- a Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience , First Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Charles University in Prague , Prague , Czech Republic
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Lawrence AD, Sahakian BJ, Robbins TW. Cognitive functions and corticostriatal circuits: insights from Huntington's disease. Trends Cogn Sci 2012; 2:379-88. [PMID: 21227253 DOI: 10.1016/s1364-6613(98)01231-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 167] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/16/2022]
Abstract
The basic mechanisms of information processing by corticostriatal circuits are currently a matter of intense debate amongst cognitive scientists. Huntington's disease, an autosomal-dominant neurogenetic disorder characterized clinically by a triad of motor, cognitive, and affective disturbance, is associated with neuronal loss within corticostriatal circuits, and as such provides a valuable model for understanding the role of these circuits in normal behaviour, and their disruption in disease. We review findings from our studies of the breakdown of cognition in Huntington's disease, with a particular emphasis on executive functions and visual recognition memory. We show that Huntington's disease patients exhibit a neuropsychological profile that shows a discernible pattern of progression with advancing disease, and appears to result from a breakdown in the mechanisms of response selection. These findings are consistent with recent computational models that suggest that corticostriatal circuits compute the patterns of sensory input and response output which are of behavioural significance within a particular environmental context.
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Affiliation(s)
- A D Lawrence
- MRC Cyclotron Unit/Departments of Sensorimotor Systems and Psychiatry, Division of Neuroscience and Psychological Medicine, Imperial College School of Medicine, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London, UK W12 0NN
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Selective cognitive impairment in the YAC128 Huntington's disease mouse. Brain Res Bull 2012; 88:121-9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2011.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2011] [Revised: 05/11/2011] [Accepted: 05/13/2011] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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Trueman R, Jones L, Dunnett S, Brooks S. Early onset deficits on the delayed alternation task in the HdhQ92 knock-in mouse model of Huntington's disease. Brain Res Bull 2012; 88:156-62. [DOI: 10.1016/j.brainresbull.2011.03.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2010] [Revised: 03/14/2011] [Accepted: 03/18/2011] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Abstract
Neuropsychological assessment has featured prominently over the past 30 years in the characterization of dementia associated with Alzheimer disease (AD). Clinical neuropsychological methods have identified the earliest, most definitive cognitive and behavioral symptoms of illness, contributing to the identification, staging, and tracking of disease. With increasing public awareness of dementia, disease detection has moved to earlier stages of illness, at a time when deficits are both behaviorally and pathologically selective. For reasons that are not well understood, early AD pathology frequently targets large-scale neuroanatomical networks for episodic memory before other networks that subserve language, attention, executive functions, and visuospatial abilities. This chapter reviews the pathognomonic neuropsychological features of AD dementia and how these differ from "normal," age-related cognitive decline and from other neurodegenerative diseases that cause dementia, including cortical Lewy body disease, frontotemporal lobar degeneration, and cerebrovascular disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandra Weintraub
- Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center (CNADC), Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois 60611, USA.
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50
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Ruskin DN, Masino SA. The nervous system and metabolic dysregulation: emerging evidence converges on ketogenic diet therapy. Front Neurosci 2012; 6:33. [PMID: 22470316 PMCID: PMC3312079 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2012.00033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2011] [Accepted: 02/23/2012] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A link between metabolism and brain function is clear. Since ancient times, epileptic seizures were noted as treatable with fasting, and historical observations of the therapeutic benefits of fasting on epilepsy were confirmed nearly 100 years ago. Shortly thereafter a high fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet (KD) debuted as a therapy to reduce seizures. This strict regimen could mimic the metabolic effects of fasting while allowing adequate caloric intake for ongoing energy demands. Today, KD therapy, which forces predominantly ketone-based rather than glucose-based metabolism, is now well-established as highly successful in reducing seizures. Cellular metabolic dysfunction in the nervous system has been recognized as existing side-by-side with nervous system disorders – although often with much less obvious cause-and-effect as the relationship between fasting and seizures. Rekindled interest in metabolic and dietary therapies for brain disorders complements new insight into their mechanisms and broader implications. Here we describe the emerging relationship between a KD and adenosine as a way to reset brain metabolism and neuronal activity and disrupt a cycle of dysfunction. We also provide an overview of the effects of a KD on cognition and recent data on the effects of a KD on pain, and explore the relative time course quantified among hallmark metabolic changes, altered neuron function and altered animal behavior assessed after diet administration. We predict continued applications of metabolic therapies in treating dysfunction including and beyond the nervous system.
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Affiliation(s)
- David N Ruskin
- Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Trinity College Hartford, CT, USA
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