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Masurkar AV, Marsh K, Morgan B, Leitner D, Wisniewski T. Factors Affecting Resilience and Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias. Ann Neurol 2024. [PMID: 39152774 DOI: 10.1002/ana.27055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2024] [Revised: 07/27/2024] [Accepted: 07/31/2024] [Indexed: 08/19/2024]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a devastating, age-associated neurodegenerative disorder and the most common cause of dementia. The clinical continuum of AD spans from preclinical disease to subjective cognitive decline, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia stages (mild, moderate, and severe). Neuropathologically, AD is defined by the accumulation of amyloid β (Aβ) into extracellular plaques in the brain parenchyma and in the cerebral vasculature, and by abnormally phosphorylated tau that accumulates intraneuronally forming neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs). Development of treatment approaches that prevent or even reduce the cognitive decline because of AD has been slow compared to other major causes of death. Recently, the United States Food and Drug Administration gave full approval to 2 different Aβ-targeting monoclonal antibodies. However, this breakthrough disease modifying approach only applies to a limited subset of patients in the AD continuum and there are stringent eligibility criteria. Furthermore, these approaches do not prevent progression of disease, because other AD-related pathologies, such as NFTs, are not directly targeted. A non-mutually exclusive alternative is to address lifestyle interventions that can help reduce the risk of AD and AD-related dementias (ADRD). It is estimated that addressing such modifiable risk factors could potentially delay up to 40% of AD/ADRD cases. In this review, we discuss some of the many modifiable risk factors that may be associated with prevention of AD/ADRD and/or increasing brain resilience, as well as other factors that may interact with these modifiable risk factors to influence AD/ADRD progression. ANN NEUROL 2024.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arjun V Masurkar
- Department of Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Center for Cognitive Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Karyn Marsh
- Department of Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Center for Cognitive Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Brianna Morgan
- Department of Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Dominique Leitner
- Department of Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Center for Cognitive Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
| | - Thomas Wisniewski
- Department of Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Center for Cognitive Neurology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Pathology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Psychiatry, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
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Walker CK, Liu E, Greathouse KM, Adamson AB, Wilson JP, Poovey EH, Curtis KA, Muhammad HM, Weber AJ, Bennett DA, Seyfried NT, Gaiteri C, Herskowitz JH. Dendritic spine head diameter predicts episodic memory performance in older adults. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadn5181. [PMID: 39110801 PMCID: PMC11305389 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adn5181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 07/02/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024]
Abstract
Episodic memory in older adults is varied and perceived to rely on numbers of synapses or dendritic spines. We analyzed 2157 neurons among 128 older individuals from the Religious Orders Study and Rush Memory and Aging Project. Analysis of 55,521 individual dendritic spines by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator regression and nested model cross-validation revealed that the dendritic spine head diameter in the temporal cortex, but not the premotor cortex, improved the prediction of episodic memory performance in models containing β amyloid plaque scores, neurofibrillary tangle pathology, and sex. These findings support the emerging hypothesis that, in the temporal cortex, synapse strength is more critical than quantity for memory in old age.
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Affiliation(s)
- Courtney K. Walker
- Department of Neurology, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Evan Liu
- Department of Neurology, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Kelsey M. Greathouse
- Department of Neurology, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Ashley B. Adamson
- Department of Neurology, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Julia P. Wilson
- Department of Neurology, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Emily H. Poovey
- Department of Neurology, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Kendall A. Curtis
- Department of Neurology, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Hamad M. Muhammad
- Department of Neurology, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - Audrey J. Weber
- Department of Neurology, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
| | - David A. Bennett
- Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA
| | - Nicholas T. Seyfried
- Department of Biochemistry, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
| | - Christopher Gaiteri
- Department of Psychiatry, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY 13210, USA
| | - Jeremy H. Herskowitz
- Department of Neurology, Center for Neurodegeneration and Experimental Therapeutics, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA
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Dugan C, Zikopoulos B, Yazdanbakhsh A. A neural modeling approach to study mechanisms underlying the heterogeneity of visual spatial frequency sensitivity in schizophrenia. SCHIZOPHRENIA (HEIDELBERG, GERMANY) 2024; 10:63. [PMID: 39013944 PMCID: PMC11252134 DOI: 10.1038/s41537-024-00480-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2024] [Accepted: 06/14/2024] [Indexed: 07/18/2024]
Abstract
Patients with schizophrenia exhibit abnormalities in spatial frequency sensitivity, and it is believed that these abnormalities indicate more widespread dysfunction and dysregulation of bottom-up processing. The early visual system, including the first-order Lateral Geniculate Nucleus of the thalamus (LGN) and the primary visual cortex (V1), are key contributors to spatial frequency sensitivity. Medicated and unmedicated patients with schizophrenia exhibit contrasting changes in spatial frequency sensitivity, thus making it a useful probe for examining potential effects of the disorder and antipsychotic medications in neural processing. We constructed a parameterized, rate-based neural model of on-center/off-surround neurons in the early visual system to investigate the impacts of changes to the excitatory and inhibitory receptive field subfields. By incorporating changes in both the excitatory and inhibitory subfields that are associated with pathophysiological findings in schizophrenia, the model successfully replicated perceptual data from behavioral/functional studies involving medicated and unmedicated patients. Among several plausible mechanisms, our results highlight the dampening of excitation and/or increase in the spread and strength of the inhibitory subfield in medicated patients and the contrasting decreased spread and strength of inhibition in unmedicated patients. Given that the model was successful at replicating results from perceptual data under a variety of conditions, these elements of the receptive field may be useful markers for the imbalances seen in patients with schizophrenia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Caroline Dugan
- Program in Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA
| | - Basilis Zikopoulos
- Human Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Department of Health Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
- Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
- Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
| | - Arash Yazdanbakhsh
- Center for Systems Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
- Graduate Program for Neuroscience, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
- Computational Neuroscience and Vision Laboratory, Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
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Bitarafan S, Pybus AF, Rivera Moctezuma FG, Adibi M, Franklin TC, Singer AC, Wood LB. Frequency and duration of sensory flicker controls astrocyte and neuron specific transcriptional profiles in 5xFAD mice. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.20.594705. [PMID: 38826251 PMCID: PMC11142106 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.20.594705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
Background Current clinical trials are investigating gamma frequency sensory stimulation as a potential therapeutic strategy for Alzheimer's disease, yet we lack a comprehensive picture of the effects of this stimulation on multiple aspects of brain function. While most prior research has focused on gamma frequency sensory stimulation, we previously showed that exposing mice to visual flickering stimulation increased MAPK and NFκB signaling in the visual cortex in a manner dependent on duration and frequency of sensory stimulation exposure. Because these pathways control multiple neuronal and glial functions and are differentially activated based on the duration and frequency of flicker stimulation, we aimed to define the transcriptional effects of different frequencies and durations of flicker stimulation on multiple brain functions. Methods We exposed 5xFAD mice to different frequencies of audio/visual flicker stimulation (constant light, 10Hz, 20Hz, 40Hz) for durations of 0.5hr, 1hr, or 4hr, then used bulk RNAseq to profile transcriptional changes within the visual cortex and hippocampus tissues. Using weighted gene co-expression network analysis, we identified modules of co-expressed genes controlled by frequency and/or duration of stimulation. Results Within the visual cortex, we found that all stimulation frequencies caused fast activation of a module of immune genes within 1hr and slower suppression of synaptic genes after 4hrs of stimulation. Interestingly, all frequencies of stimulation led to slow suppression of astrocyte specific gene sets, while activation of neuronal gene sets was frequency and duration specific. In contrast, in the hippocampus, immune and synaptic modules were suppressed based on the frequency of stimulation. Specifically,10Hz activated a module of genes associated with mitochondrial function, metabolism, and synaptic translation while 10Hz rapidly suppressed a module of genes linked to neurotransmitter activity. Conclusion Collectively, our data indicate that the frequency and duration of flicker stimulation controls immune, neuronal, and metabolic genes in multiple regions of the brain affected by Alzheimer's disease. Flicker stimulation may thus represent a potential therapeutic strategy that can be tuned based on the brain region and the specific cellular process to be modulated.
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Negro D, Opazo P. Cognitive resilience in Alzheimer's disease: from large-scale brain networks to synapses. Brain Commun 2024; 6:fcae050. [PMID: 38425748 PMCID: PMC10903981 DOI: 10.1093/braincomms/fcae050] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 02/14/2024] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
This scientific commentary refers to 'Alteration of functional connectivity network in population of objectively-defined subtle cognitive decline' by Zhang et al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcae033) and 'Posterior cingulate cortex reveals an expression profile of resilience in cognitively intact elders' by Kelley et al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcac162) in Brain Communications and 'Determinants of cognitive and brain resilience to tau pathology: a longitudinal analysis' by Bocancea et al. (https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awad100) in Brain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danilo Negro
- UK Dementia Research Institute, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh EH16 4SB, UK
| | - Patricio Opazo
- UK Dementia Research Institute, Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Medical School, Edinburgh EH16 4SB, UK
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Almeida MF, Farizatto KLG, Almeida RS, Bahr BA. Lifestyle strategies to promote proteostasis and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other proteinopathies. Ageing Res Rev 2024; 93:102162. [PMID: 38070831 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2023.102162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 12/05/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023]
Abstract
Unhealthy lifestyle choices, poor diet, and aging can have negative influences on cognition, gradually increasing the risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and the continuum comprising early dementia. Aging is the greatest risk factor for age-related dementias such as Alzheimer's disease, and the aging process is known to be influenced by life events that can positively or negatively affect age-related diseases. Remarkably, life experiences that make the brain vulnerable to dementia, such as seizure episodes, neurotoxin exposures, metabolic disorders, and trauma-inducing events (e.g. traumatic injuries or mild neurotrauma from a fall or blast exposure), have been associated with negative effects on proteostasis and synaptic integrity. Functional compromise of the autophagy-lysosomal pathway, a major contributor to proteostasis, has been implicated in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, obesity-related pathology, Huntington's disease, as well as in synaptic degeneration which is the best correlate of cognitive decline. Correspondingly, pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies that positively modulate lysosomal proteases are recognized as synaptoprotective through degradative clearance of pathogenic proteins. Here, we discuss life-associated vulnerabilities that influence key hallmarks of brain aging and the increased burden of age-related dementias. Additionally, we discuss exercise and diet among the lifestyle strategies that regulate proteostasis as well as synaptic integrity, leading to evident prevention of cognitive deficits during brain aging in pre-clinical models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael F Almeida
- Biotechnology Research and Training Center, University of North Carolina - Pembroke, Pembroke, NC 28372, USA; Department of Biology, University of North Carolina - Pembroke, Pembroke, NC 28372, USA; Department of Biology & Marine Biology, and the Integrative, Comparative & Marine Biology Program, University of North Carolina - Wilmington, Wilmington, NC 28409, USA
| | - Karen L G Farizatto
- Biotechnology Research and Training Center, University of North Carolina - Pembroke, Pembroke, NC 28372, USA
| | - Renato S Almeida
- Department of Biosciences, University of Taubate, Taubate, SP 12020-270, Brazil
| | - Ben A Bahr
- Biotechnology Research and Training Center, University of North Carolina - Pembroke, Pembroke, NC 28372, USA; Department of Biology, University of North Carolina - Pembroke, Pembroke, NC 28372, USA.
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