Functional and Cognitive Assessments and their Relationship to Alzheimer's

 
   Lead Investigator:    Luis D. Medina
   Institution      :    University of Colorado School of Medicine
   E-Mail           :    luis.medina@ucdenver.edu
   Proposal ID      :    746


   Publications:


1  Medina LD
   Hippocampal Volume is Related to Cognitive Function in Non-Hispanics but not in Hispanics in a Case-Control Matched Sample
   Abstract  Forty Fifth Annual INS Meeting,23:139,2017,

   PUBLISHED





   Proposal Description:
   Cognitive assessments for identifying cognitive decline associated with           Alzheimer???s disease (AD) have been problematic in Hispanics due to              psychometric issues with available tests, inadequate normative data, and          increased variability, suggesting reduced specificity and the potential for       misdiagnosing cognitive disorders in this underrepresented group. In contrast,    functional assessments may be less culturally biased and, therefore, may have     increased sensitivity in the evaluation of impairments. The overarching goal of   this proposal is to examine the clinical effectiveness of subjective functional   assessments and objective cognitive assessments together with neuroimaging        biomarkers to assess Alzheimer???s disease pathology for diagnosing Mild          Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and AD in Hispanic populations. Our aims and           hypotheses are:                                                                   Aim 1: To explore how subjective functional and cognitive assessments relate to   clinical diagnosis of MCI or AD in Hispanics and in non-Hispanics.                Aim 2: To determine whether subjective functional assessments or cognitive        assessments better predicts AD pathology burden, as measured by neuroimaging      biomarkers on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and biochemical biomarkers in      cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).                                                        We hypothesize that while the relationship between assessment measures and        clinical diagnosis of AD will likely not differ between ethnic groups (Aim 1),    the predictive relationship of functional and cognitive assessments with AD       pathology will differ between ethnic groups (Aim 2). We predict that, in          contrast to cognitive test results, functional assessment scores will be more     strongly associated with AD pathology in Hispanics, but not in non-Hispanics.     To test these hypotheses, we wil