Majić, Tomislav, Gutzmann, Hans, Heinz, Andreas, Lang, Undine E., Rapp, Michael A.

Objectives: To investigate the efficacy of animal-assisted therapy (AAT) on symptoms of agitation/aggression and depression in nursing home residents with dementia in a randomized controlled trial. Previous studies have indicated that AAT has beneficial effects on neuropsychiatric symptoms in various psychiatric disorders but few studies have investigated the efficacy of AAT in patients suffering from […]

Kwok, T C Y, Lam, L C W, Sea, M M M, Goggins, W, Woo, J

Background/objectives: To examine whether dietary interventions promote intakes of fruit, vegetable, fish and lower salt intake were effective in preventing cognitive decline in older people. Dietary factors have been associated with cognitive function in older people.; Subjects/methods: A total of 429 non-demented subjects in 14 old age hostels, with an average age of 83 years, […]

Jackson, Graham S., Burk-Rafel, Jesse, Edgeworth, Julie Ann, Sicilia, Anita, Abdilahi, Sabah, Korteweg, Justine, Mackey, Jonathan, Thomas, Claire, Wang, Guosu, Schott, Jonathan M., Mummery, Catherine, Chinnery, Patrick F., Mead, Simon, Collinge, John

Importance: Our study indicates a prototype blood-based variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) assay has sufficient sensitivity and specificity to justify a large study comparing vCJD prevalence in the United Kingdom with a bovine spongiform encephalopathy-unexposed population. In a clinical diagnostic capacity, the assay’s likelihood ratios dramatically change an individual’s pretest disease odds to posttest probabilities and […]

Freedman, Morris, Binns, Malcolm A., Black, Sandra E., Levine, Brian, Miller, Bruce L., Ramirez, Joel, Szilagyi, Gregory M., Scott, Christopher J. M., McNeely, Alicia A., Stuss, Donald T.

We studied behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) using object alternation (OA) as a novel probe of cognition. This task was adopted from animal models and is sensitive to ventrolateral-orbitofrontal and medial frontal function in humans. OA was administered to bvFTD patients, normal controls, and a dementia control group with Alzheimer disease (AD). Two other frontal […]

Edwards, Nancy E., Beck, Alan M.

This study assessed whether individuals with dementia who observe aquariums increase the amount of food they consume and maintain body weight. The sample included 70 residents in dementia units within 3 extended care facilities in 2 states. The intervention included the introduction of an aquarium into each common dining area. A total increase of 196.9 […]

Dangour, A. D., Allen, E., Elbourne, D., Fletcher, A., Richards, M., Uauy, R.

Background: Observational epidemiological data suggest that habitual consumption in later life of oily fish, rich in n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 LCPs), is associated with better cognitive function, slower rates of cognitive decline and a lower risk of dementia. In this paper we present data on baseline fish consumption and cognitive function in cognitively […]