Incongruent gray matter atrophy and functional connectivity of striatal subregions in behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

Previous studies on the striatum demonstrated that it is involved in the regulation of cognitive function and psychiatric symptoms in patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD). Multiple lines of evidence have shown that striatal subregions have their own functions. However, the results of the existing studies on striatal subregions are inconsistent and unclear. In this study, we found that structural imaging analysis revealed that the bvFTD patients had smaller volumes of striatal subregions than the controls. We found that the degree of atrophy varied across the striatal subregions. Additionally, the right striatal subregions were significantly more atrophic than the left in bvFTD. Functional imaging analysis revealed that bvFTD patients exhibited different changed patterns of resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) when striatal subregions were selected as regions of interest (ROI). The RSFC extending range on the right ROIs was more significant than on the left in the same subregion. Interestingly, the RSFC of the subregions extending to the insula were consistent. In addition, the left dorsolateral putamen may be involved in executive function regulation. This suggests that incongruence in striatal subregions may be critical to the bvFTD characteristics.

Validation of the Chinese version of the memory binding test for distinguishing amnestic mild cognitive impairment from cognitively normal elderly individuals.

BACKGROUND: Episodic memory starts to decline very early in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Subtle impairments in memory binding may be detected in mild cognitive impairment (MCI). This study aims to examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of the memory binding test (MBT). METHODS: One hundred and sixty-four subjects (26 individuals with AD, 67 individuals with amnestic MCI (aMCI), 30 individuals with subjective cognitive impairment (SCI), and 41 cognitively normal elderly individuals (NC)) participated in the study. Twenty-two subjects repeated the assessment of the MBT within 6 weeks (± 2 weeks). Pearson correlation was used to calculate the convergent validity. The test--retest reliability was determined by the calculation of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Discriminative validity was calculated to evaluate the receiver-operating characteristic curves. The optimal index was chosen by comparing the area under the curve for specificity and sensitivity ≥ 0.80. The optimal cutoff score of the index was chosen to maximize the sum of sensitivity and specificity. RESULTS: The absolute value of the convergent validity of the direct indexes of MBT ranged from 0.443 to 0.684. The ICC for each of direct indexes was 0.887-0.958. Total delayed paired recall (TDPR) was the optimal index for discriminating aMCI from NC. The cutoff score for TDPR was ≤25 to distinguish aMCI from NC (sensitivity = 0.896, specificity = 0.707). CONCLUSION: The Chinese version of MBT is a valid and reliable instrument to detect MCI.

Reliability and validity of the international dementia alliance schedule for the assessment and staging of care in China.

BACKGROUND: Clinical and social services both are important for dementia care. The International Dementia Alliance (IDEAL) Schedule for the Assessment and Staging of Care was developed to guide clinical and social care for dementia. Our study aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the IDEAL schedule in China. METHODS: Two hundred eighty-two dementia patients and their caregivers were recruited from 15 hospitals in China. Each patient-caregiver dyad was assessed with the IDEAL schedule by a rater and an observer simultaneously. The Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR), Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE), and Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI) were assessed for criterion validity. IDEAL repeated assessment was conducted 7-10 days after the initial interview for 62 dyads. RESULTS: Two hundred seventy-seven patient-caregiver dyads completed the IDEAL assessment. Inter-rater reliability for the total score of the IDEAL schedule was 0.93 (95%CI = 0.92-0.95). The inter-class coefficient for the total score of IDEAL was 0.95 for the interviewers and 0.93 for the silent raters. The IDEAL total score correlated with the global CDR score (ρ = 0.72, p < 0.001), the CDR-sum of box (CDR-SOB, ρ = 0.74, p < 0.001), the total score of MMSE (ρ = -0.65, p < 0.001) and CBI (ρ = 0.70, p < 0.001). All item scores of the IDEAL schedule were associated with the CDR-SOB (ρ = 0.17 ~ 0.79, all p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: The IDEAL schedule is a valid and reliable tool for the staging of care for dementia in the Chinese population.

Reliability and Validity of the Chinese Version of Mild Behavioral Impairment Checklist in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Mild Alzheimer's Disease.

BACKGROUND: Mild behavioral impairment (MBI) has been proposed as an early manifestation of dementia. The Mild Behavioral Impairment Checklist (MBI-C) may help identify MBI in prodromal and preclinical dementia. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of MBI-C in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild Alzheimer's disease (AD), and to explore the structure of the five factors of the MBI-C in Chinese culture. METHODS: Sixty dyads of MCI and mild AD (MCI, n = 33; mild AD, n = 35) were recruited. The informants completed the MBI-C and Neuropsychiatric Inventory Questionnaire (NPI-Q) and were interviewed for clinician rating of the NPI. The Cronbach's coefficient was used to measure the structural reliability of the MBI-C. The criterion-validity was evaluated with the correlation coefficient between the MBI-C and the total scores of NPI-Q and NPI. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to investigate the structure of the MBI-C. RESULTS: The Cronbach's α coefficient was 0.895. The MBI-C total score was positively correlated with all five domains (r = 0.577∼0.840). The total score of MBI-C was significantly correlated with the total scores of NPI-Q (r = 0.714) and NPI (r = 0.749). Similarly, the five domain scores of MBI-C were significantly correlated with the factor and total scores of NPI-Q (r = 0.312∼0.673) and NPI (r = 0.389∼0.673). The components of each factor in Chinese version of MBI-C were slightly different from those of the a priori defined domains (χ2 = 1818.202, df = 496, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The Chinese version of MBI-C has good reliability and validity, and can be used to evaluate the psychological and behavioral changes in MCI and mild AD.