The impact of aerobic endurance training on cognitive performance in schizophrenic inpatients in a clinical routine setting.

The primary aim of this study was to investigate the impact of aerobic endurance training in schizophrenic inpatients on cognitive performance in a clinical routine setting. Of secondary interest was the influence on psychopathological symptoms. A total of 31 schizophrenic inpatients were randomly assigned to receive either controlled endurance training or occupational therapy. The experimental group underwent endurance training of 20-30 min each, 3 times per week for a total of up to 22 training sessions. The control group received about 90 min of occupational therapy, 2-3 times per week for up to 22 sessions. Cognitive performance was assessed via an extensive neuropsychological examination before randomization and prior to discharge. Significant improvements in cognitive functions and psychopathology could be shown in both groups. For verbal memory functions (short-term memory, working memory, and learning performance), there was a significant advantage for the aerobic endurance training group. Physical exercise is a feasible, easy-to-implement add-on therapy for schizophrenic patients in a clinical routine setting with positive effects on verbal memory functions. Besides, it seems important to fill the gap between inpatient and outpatient health care, providing physical training supply for this patient group.

Utility of the Repeat and Point Test for Subtyping Patients With Primary Progressive Aphasia.

BACKGROUND: Primary progressive aphasia (PPA) may present with three distinct clinical sybtypes: semantic variant PPA (svPPA), nonfluent/agrammatic variant PPA (nfvPPA), and logopenic variant PPA (lvPPA). OBJECTIVE: The aim was to examine the utility of the German version of the Repeat and Point (R&P) Test for subtyping patients with PPA. METHOD: During the R&P Test, the examiner reads out aloud a noun and the participants are asked to repeat the word and subsequently point to the corresponding picture. Data from 204 patients (68 svPPA, 85 nfvPPA, and 51 lvPPA) and 33 healthy controls were analyzed. RESULTS: Controls completed both tasks with >90% accuracy. Patients with svPPA had high scores in repetition (mean=9.2±1.32) but low scores in pointing (mean=6±2.52). In contrast, patients with nfvPPA and lvPPA performed comparably in both tasks with lower scores in repetition (mean=7.4±2.7 for nfvPPA and 8.2±2.34 for lvPPA) but higher scores in pointing (mean=8.9±1.41 for nfvPPA and 8.6±1.62 for lvPPA). The R&P Test had high accuracy discriminating svPPA from nfvPPA (83% accuracy) and lvPPA (79% accuracy). However, there was low accuracy discriminating nfvPPA from lvPPA (<60%). CONCLUSION: The R&P Test helps to differentiate svPPA from 2 nonsemantic variants (nfvPPA and lvPPA). However, additional tests are required for the differentiation of nfvPPA and lvPPA.

Quantifying progression in primary progressive aphasia with structural neuroimaging.

INTRODUCTION: The term primary progressive aphasia (PPA) sums up the non-fluent (nfv), the semantic (sv), and the logopenic (lv) variant. Up to now, there is only limited data available concerning magnetic resonance imaging volumetry to monitor disease progression. METHODS: Structural brain imaging and an extensive assessment were applied at baseline and up to 4-year(s) follow-up in 269 participants. With automated atlas-based volumetry 56 brain regions were assessed. Atrophy progression served to calculate sample sizes for therapeutic trials. RESULTS: At baseline highest atrophy appeared in parts of the left frontal lobe for nfvPPA (-17%) and of the left temporal lobe for svPPA (-34%) and lvPPA (-24%). Severest progression within 1-year follow-up occurred in the basal ganglia in nfvPPA (-7%), in the hippocampus/amygdala in svPPA (-9%), and in (medial) temporal regions in lvPPA (-6%). CONCLUSION: PPA presents as a left-dominant, mostly gray matter sensitive disease with considerable atrophy at baseline that proceeds variant-specific.

Story of the ALS-FTD continuum retold: rather two distinct entities.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the evolution and profile of cognitive and behavioural deficits in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) to disentangle the development of FTD in ALS and vice versa. METHODS: In a prospective design, cognitive and behavioural profiles of 762 patients with motor predominant ALS (flail arm/leg syndrome, primary lateral sclerosis, pseudobulbar palsy, ALS) and behavioural predominant FTD (bvFTD, ALS-FTD) were determined and caregivers of patients with ALS were asked on the evolution of behavioural symptoms. Data were compared with 49 healthy controls. Cognition was measured with the Edinburgh Cognitive and Behavioral ALS Screen. RESULTS: Evolution and features of cognitive profile of patients with motor predominant ALS were distinctly different from patients with behavioural FTD with regard to number and degree of affected cognitive domains. Also, in ALS mostly minus symptoms evolved after physical symptom onset whereas in ALS-FTD plus and minus symptoms were reported with an onset before physical degradation. CONCLUSION: Evolution of cognitive and behavioural profile in patients with motor predominant ALS is distinctly different from those psychocognitive findings in patients with behavioural variant dementia. This may support the hypothesis that (possibly genetic) triggers decide in the preclinical phase on either motor or psychocognitive phenotypes.

Predicting disease progression in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

INTRODUCTION: The behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) is a rare neurodegenerative disease. Reliable predictors of disease progression have not been sufficiently identified. We investigated multivariate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) biomarker profiles for their predictive value of individual decline. METHODS: One hundred five bvFTD patients were recruited from the German frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) consortium study. After defining two groups ("fast progressors" vs. "slow progressors"), we investigated the predictive value of MR brain volumes for disease progression rates performing exhaustive screenings with multivariate classification models. RESULTS: We identified areas that predict disease progression rate within 1 year. Prediction measures revealed an overall accuracy of 80% across our 50 top classification models. Especially the pallidum, middle temporal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, middle orbitofrontal gyrus, and insula occurred in these models. DISCUSSION: Based on the revealed marker combinations an individual prognosis seems to be feasible. This might be used in clinical studies on an individualized progression model.

Moral judgment in patients with behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: no impairment of the moral position, but rather its execution.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate moral judgment competence in patients with the behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) compared to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and controls. METHODS: N = 12 bvFTD, N = 22 ALS patients and N = 19 neurological unimpaired controls were examined. In the 'Moral Competence Test' (MCT), participants had to evaluate two moral dilemmas by predefined arguments to measure the consistency of their moral judgments. The 'Ethics Position Questionnaire' (EPQ) addresses whether individuals prefer binding ethical standards, the Idler Index of Religiosity (IIR) measures the level of religiosity. Cognition was assessed with the CERAD-plus. RESULTS: BvFTD and ALS patients exhibited a similar moral position as healthy controls but a significantly lower judgment consistency in the MCT. MCT performance was independent from general cognitive functioning and not associated with moral orientation and religiosity. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that not the moral position itself seems to be impaired in patients with bvFTD, but rather their competence to transfer it into situational decisions. The fact that ALS patients have similar problems in applying moral principles in a consistent manner might indicate a deficit in execution of moral judgment, and this is in line with studies suggesting a damage of specific cerebral structures.

A language-based sum score for the course and therapeutic intervention in primary progressive aphasia.

BACKGROUND: With upcoming therapeutic interventions for patients with primary progressive aphasia (PPA), instruments for the follow-up of patients are needed to describe disease progression and to evaluate potential therapeutic effects. So far, volumetric brain changes have been proposed as clinical endpoints in the literature, but cognitive scores are still lacking. This study followed disease progression predominantly in language-based performance within 1 year and defined a PPA sum score which can be used in therapeutic interventions. METHODS: We assessed 28 patients with nonfluent variant PPA, 17 with semantic variant PPA, 13 with logopenic variant PPA, and 28 healthy controls in detail for 1 year. The most informative neuropsychological assessments were combined to a sum score, and associations between brain atrophy were investigated followed by a sample size calculation for clinical trials. RESULTS: Significant absolute changes up to 20% in cognitive tests were found after 1 year. Semantic and phonemic word fluency, Boston Naming Test, Digit Span, Token Test, AAT Written language, and Cookie Test were identified as the best markers for disease progression. These tasks provide the basis of a new PPA sum score. Assuming a therapeutic effect of 50% reduction in cognitive decline for sample size calculations, a number of 56 cases is needed to find a significant treatment effect. Correlations between cognitive decline and atrophy showed a correlation up to r = 0.7 between the sum score and frontal structures, namely the superior and inferior frontal gyrus, as well as with left-sided subcortical structures. CONCLUSION: Our findings support the high performance of the proposed sum score in the follow-up of PPA and recommend it as an outcome measure in intervention studies.

Serum neurofilament light chain in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association of serum neurofilament light chain (NfL) with functional deterioration and brain atrophy during follow-up of patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). METHODS: Blood NfL levels from 74 patients with bvFTD, 26 with Alzheimer disease (AD), 17 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 15 healthy controls (Con) at baseline and follow-up were determined and analyzed for the diagnostic potential in relation to functional assessment (Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Sum of Boxes [CDR-SOB], frontotemporal lobar degeneration-related CDR-SOB, Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE]) and brain volumetry. RESULTS: At baseline, serum NfL level correlated with CSF NfL (bvFTD r = 0.706, p < 0.0001; AD/MCI r = 0.666, p = 0.0003). Highest serum levels were observed in bvFTD (p <0 0.0001 vs Con and MCI, p = 0.0078 vs AD, respectively). Discrimination of bvFTD from Con/MCI/AD was possible with 91%/74%/74% sensitivity and 79%/74%/58% specificity. At follow-up, serum NfL increased in bvFTD and AD (p = 0.0039 and p = 0.0006, respectively). At baseline and follow-up, NfL correlated with functional scores of patients with bvFTD (e.g., CDR-SOB [baseline] r = 0.4157, p = 0.0006; [follow-up] r = 0.5629, p < 0.0001) and with atrophy in the gray and white matter of many brain regions including frontal and subcortical areas (e.g., frontal lobe: r = -0.5857, p < 0.0001; 95% confidence interval -0.7415 to -0.3701). For patients with AD/MCI, NfL correlated with the functional performance as well (e.g., CDR-SOB [baseline] r = 0.6624, p < 0.0001; [follow-up] r = 0.5659, p = 0.0003) but not with regional brain volumes. CONCLUSIONS: As serum NfL correlates with functional impairment and brain atrophy in bvFTD at different disease stages, we propose it as marker of disease severity, paving the way for its future use as outcome measure for clinical trials. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class III evidence that for patients with cognitive problems, serum NfL concentration discriminates bvFTD from other forms of dementia.

Atrophy in the Thalamus But Not Cerebellum Is Specific for C9orf72 FTD and ALS Patients - An Atlas-Based Volumetric MRI Study.

Background: The neuropathology of patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) due to a C9orf72 mutation is characterized by two distinct types of characteristic protein depositions containing either TDP-43 or so-called dipeptide repeat proteins that extend beyond frontal and temporal regions. Thalamus and cerebellum seem to be preferentially affected by the dipeptide repeat pathology unique to C9orf72 mutation carriers. Objective: This study aimed to determine if mutation carriers showed an enhanced degree of thalamic and cerebellar atrophy compared to sporadic patients or healthy controls. Methods: Atlas-based volumetry was performed in 13 affected C9orf72 FTD, ALS and FTD/ALS patients, 45 sporadic FTD and FTD/ALS patients and 19 healthy controls. Volumes and laterality indices showing significant differences between mutation carriers and sporadic patients were subjected to binary logistic regression to determine the best predictor of mutation carrier status. Results: Compared to sporadic patients, mutation carriers showed a significant volume reduction of the thalamus, which was most striking in the occipital, temporal and prefrontal subregion of the thalamus. Disease severity measured by mini mental status examination (MMSE) and FTD modified Clinical Dementia Rating Scale Sum of Boxes (FTD-CDR-SOB) significantly correlated with volume reduction in the aforementioned thalamic subregions. No significant atrophy of cerebellar regions could be detected. A logistic regression model using the volume of the prefrontal and the laterality index of the occipital subregion of the thalamus as predictor variables resulted in an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.88 while a model using overall thalamic volume still resulted in an AUC of 0.82. Conclusion: Our data show that thalamic atrophy in C9orf72 mutation carriers goes beyond the expected atrophy in the prefrontal and temporal subregion and is in good agreement with the cortical atrophy pattern described in C9orf72 mutation carriers, indicating a retrograde degeneration of functionally connected regions. Clinical relevance of the detected thalamic atrophy is illustrated by a correlation with disease severity. Furthermore, the findings suggest MRI volumetry of the thalamus to be of high predictive value in differentiating C9orf72 mutation carriers from patients with sporadic FTD.

Neurofilament as a blood marker for diagnosis and monitoring of primary progressive aphasias.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the utility of serum neurofilament for diagnosis and monitoring of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) variants. METHODS: We investigated neurofilament light chain (NF-L) levels in blood of 99 patients with PPA (40 with nonfluent variant PPA [nfvPPA], 38 with semantic variant PPA [svPPA], 21 with logopenic variant PPA [lvPPA]) and compared diagnostic performance with that reached by CSF NF-L, phosphorylated neurofilament heavy chain (pNF-H), ß-amyloid (Aß1-42), tau, and phosphorylated tau. The longitudinal change of blood NF-L levels was measured and analyzed for correlation with functional decline and brain atrophy. RESULTS: Serum NF-L is increased in PPA compared to controls and discriminates between nfvPPA/svPPA and lvPPA with 81% sensitivity and 67% specificity (cutoff 31 pg/mL). CSF NF-L, pNF-H, tau, phosphorylated tau, and Aß1-42 achieved similar performance, and pNF-H was the only marker for discrimination of nfvPPA from svPPA/lvPPA. In most patients with nfvPPA and svPPA, but not lvPPA, serum NF-L increased within follow-up. The increase correlated with functional decline and progression of atrophy of the left frontal lobe of all patients with PPAs and the right middle frontal gyrus of patients with nfvPPA and svPPA. CONCLUSIONS: Blood level of NF-L can aid the differential diagnosis of PPA variants, especially in combination with CSF pNF-H. Because serum NF-L correlates with functional decline and atrophy in the disease course, it qualifies as an objective disease status marker. Extended follow-up studies with cases of known neuropathology are imperative. CLASSIFICATION OF EVIDENCE: This study provides Class I evidence that in patients with PPA, blood levels of NF-L can distinguish the logopenic variant from the nonfluent/agrammatic and semantic variants.

Naturally Occurring Autoantibodies against Tau Protein Are Reduced in Parkinson's Disease Dementia.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Altered levels of naturally occurring autoantibodies (nAbs) against disease-associated neuronal proteins have been reported for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD). Recent histopathologic studies suggest a contribution of both Lewy body- and AD-related pathology to Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). Therefore, we explored nAbs against alpha-synuclein (αS), tau and ß-amyloid (Aß) in PDD compared to cognitively normal PD patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We established three different ELISAs to quantify the nAbs-tau, nAbs-αS, and nAbs-Aß levels and avidity towards their specific antigen in serum samples of 18 non-demented (PDND) and 18 demented PD patients (PDD), which were taken from an ongoing multi-center cohort study (DEMPARK/LANDSCAPE). RESULTS: PDD patients had significantly decreased nAbs-tau serum levels compared to PDND patients (p = 0.007), whereas the serum titers of nAbs-αS and nAbs-Aß were unchanged. For all three nAbs, no significant differences in avidity were found between PDD and PDND cohorts. However, within both patient groups, nAbs-tau showed lowest avidity to their antigen, followed by nAbs-αS, and nAbs-Aß. Though, due to a high interassay coefficient of variability and the exclusion of many samples below the limit of detection, conclusions for nAbs-Aß are only conditionally possible. CONCLUSION: We detected a significantly decreased nAbs-tau serum level in PDD patients, indicating a potential linkage between nAbs-tau serum titer and cognitive deficits in PD. Thus, further investigation in larger samples is justified to confirm our findings.