Combined risk of epilepsy and TBI for cognitive outcomes and the development of
dementia
 


   Note: An Official Proposal has not been Submitted to NACC.


   Lead Investigator:    Alyssa Sulllivan
   Institution      :    University of Iowa
   E-Mail           :    alyssasullivan@uiowa.edu
   Proposal ID      :    1803



   Proposal Description:
   The current study aims to investigate the influence of a combined history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and epilepsy versus epilepsy alone on the age of diagnosis of dementia, while accounting for relevant demographic, disease, and injury factors. We will also investigate cognitive profiles (i.e., neuropsychological testing) in the sample to determine if areas of cognitive deficits resulting in a diagnosis of dementia differ between those with a history of TBI and epilepsy and those with a history of epilepsy alone. We hypothesize that a combined history of TBI and epilepsy will have a synergistic effect, resulting in an earlier age of onset of dementia and a more accelerated disease course (i.e., calculated as the amount of time from epilepsy onset to age of dementia diagnosis), while accounting for relevant demographic (i.e., age of assessment, sex), disease (i.e., age of onset of epilepsy, duration of epilepsy), and injury factors (i.e., age of onset of TBI, number of TBIs, severity of TBI) known to contribute to disease course and outcomes. Participant data will be collected from a few databases including from the Patient Registry of the Division of Behavioral Neurology and Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, the Texas Alzheimer's Research and Care Consortium, and the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center.