Clinical Research Directory

Returning Research Results That Indicate Risk of Alzheimer Disease Dementia to Healthy Participants in Longitudinal Studies

This is a study to evaluate the impact of returning research results that indicate a five-year risk estimate of Alzheimer disease dementia to participants without memory or thinking problems of the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center at Washington University in St. Louis.

A Pivotal Study of Sensory Stimulation in Alzheimer's Disease (Hope Study, CA-0011)

This is a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, adaptive-design pivotal study of sensory stimulation in subjects with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. Up to approximately 670 subjects will be randomized to 12 months of daily treatment with either Active or Sham Sensory Stimulation Systems. Efficacy will be measured using the Alzheimer's Disease Cooperative Study- Activities of Daily Living (ADCS-ADL) assessment and a combined statistical test (CST) of the ADCS-ADL and the Mini-Mental State Exam (MMSE).

Assess Fibrin in Brains With AD/ADRD

The goal of this project is to quantify brain fibrin content using 64Cu-FBP8-PET in the brains of subjects ranging from cognitively normal to clinically diagnosed with ADRD to evaluate potential regional differences.

Persons With Dementia and Their Extended Family Caregivers

Immediate family members shoulder the majority of care responsibilities for persons living with dementia. However, due to various societal changes, elder care responsibilities have expanded to extended family members, including grandchildren, siblings, nieces/nephews, siblings, and step-kin. The main objective of this study is to understand the caregiving journeys of various extended family members involved in dementia care. We aim to learn about caregivers' care management strategies; their use of home and community-based services and informal support; and barriers to service usage. We will use the results from the study to help enhance service delivery, alleviate care-related stress, and improve the quality of life of dementia patients and their caregivers. We will use a mixed-methods design to explore the challenges faced by caregivers as well as their service usage for the person living with dementia. Our methodology involves an initial telephone interview (approx. 70 minutes) that includes open-ended questions, standard items, and structured measures, followed by an 8-day semi-structured daily diary interview about daily care responsibilities and experiences with services (15-20 minutes each evening). This study will be conducted with 240 extended family members serving as one of the main caregivers for a person living with dementia in a community setting.

Adaptation of the Uniform Data Set for Telematic Administration

The present project is an evolution of the previous RIN 2019 study aimed at validating and standardizing the Uniform Data Set (UDS) for dementia, a battery of tests exploring various cognitive domains (memory, language, praxis, executive functions) and involving partial tablet-based computerization for data collection. In the present study, a UDS-based instrument that can be used in remote examiner-assisted telematic administration will be validated. This will be followed by standardization of the same on a sample of healthy subjects.

Autonomic Involvement in Patient With Cognitive Decline

Prospective interventional study with a device for comparing autonomic parameters among patients with different forms of cognitive decline

The Nightlight Falls Prevention Study

This project will test the effectiveness of a novel intervention consisting of unobtrusive, low-intensity, horizontal and vertical lights that outline the bathroom or entry way doorframe in residents' rooms and provide visual cues to promote postural stability. Specifically, this pragmatic crossover trial will enroll 335 assisted living residents with dementia and follow them for one year, comparing the incidence of nighttime falls during the lighting condition to the incidence of falls during the control condition; secondarily, it will determine whether and to what extent the intervention effect is modified by resident- and environmental-level risk factors, and satisfaction with the lighting system.

Characterizing Variability in Hearing Aid Outcomes in Among Older Adults With Alzheimer's Dementia

This current translational project, funded by NIH, aims to better understand the impact of various signal modification strategies for older adults with Alzheimer's dementia and its potential precursor, known as amnestic mild cognitive impairment. The investigators hypothesize that adults with Alzheimer's dementia represent an extreme case of restricted cognitive ability, such that very low working memory capacity and overall reduced cognitive capacity will limit benefit from advanced signal processing. Thus, the investigators hypothesize that adults with Alzheimer's dementia will receive greater benefit from acoustically simple, high-fidelity hearing aid processing that minimally alters the acoustic signal.

Statins in Reducing Events in the Elderly Mind (STAREE-Mind) Imaging Substudy

The STAREE-Mind imaging sub-study will examine the effect of statin treatment over a 4-year period, compared with placebo, on markers of brain health.

Reducing African American's Alzheimer's Risk Through Exercise-Mild Cognitive Impairment (RAATE-MCI)

The RAATE-MCI proposal is designed to determine the effects of physical activity on risk factors for Alzheimer's Disease in older African American adults. The study will compare a physical activity program to an active control group. RAATE-MCI is a 52-week randomized controlled trial. 144 African American adults aged 60 and older will be recruited.

Uppsala-Dalarna Dementia and Gait Project

UDDGait™ is a multidisciplinary research project with the overreaching goal of providing an aid for early identification of cognitive impairment and risk of dementia development, thereby providing a basis for adequate symptom relieving and health promoting interventions. A new concept is investigated for this purpose: a "dual-task-test", which implies the combination of a well-established mobility test (Timed Up-and-Go, TUG) with a simultaneous verbal task (i.e. TUG dual-task, TUGdt). This type of test has been judged as a potential aid for early identification of dementia disease. More research is needed to further examine the test's validity, reliability and predictive capacity. The overall aim is to investigate if TUGdt is useful as an aid for prediction of dementia disease. To ensure the results, the aim is also to evaluate the test's measurement properties and to generate normative reference values of healthy control persons.

An Observational Study of Patients Living With Chronic Neurological Diseases

TARGET-NEURO is an observational research study to conduct a comprehensive review of outcomes for patients living with chronic neurological diseases: Alzheimer's disease and related dementia (ADRD), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Parkinson's disease (PD), and multiple sclerosis (MS).

Extension to a Pivotal Study of Sensory Stimulation in Alzheimer's Disease (OLE Hope Study, CA-0015)

This is an open-label extension for a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled, adaptive design pivotal study. Participants who complete the Hope Study (CA-0011) will be eligible to consent for screening to enroll in the OLE Hope Study (CA-0015). All participants will be treated with an Active Sensory Stimulation System (GS120) for 60 minutes daily for up to 12 months. There will be no Sham treatment group or randomization involved in this study.

How Does Pianistic Musical Training Influence the Development of Alzheimer's Disease?

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about and describe how pianistic training influences the development of Alzheimer's disease. The key question is: Can pianistic practice influence the development of Alzheimer's disease? Participants will receive piano lessons for 4 weeks (20 sessions) and we will evaluate the evolution of the different parameters described by the tests carried out.

Multi-Center Study of Sensory Stimulation to Improve Brain Function

The Overture Study is a randomized, controlled, single-blind multi-center clinical trial using the GammaSense Stimulation system to study safety, tolerability, and efficacy in people with mild to moderate cognitive impairment.