Browsing by Subject "Cognition"
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Item A Tutorial on Cognitive Diagnosis Modeling for Characterizing Mental Health Symptom Profiles Using Existing Item Responses(Springer Nature, 2022-02-04) Tan, Zhengqi; de la Torre, Jimmy; Ma, Wenchao; Huh, David; Larimer, Mary E.; Mun, Eun-YoungIn research applications, mental health problems such as alcohol-related problems and depression are commonly assessed and evaluated using scale scores or latent trait scores derived from factor analysis or item response theory models. This tutorial paper demonstrates the use of cognitive diagnosis models (CDMs) as an alternative approach to characterizing mental health problems of young adults when item-level data are available. Existing measurement approaches focus on estimating the general severity of a given mental health problem at the scale level as a unidimensional construct without accounting for other symptoms of related mental health problems. The prevailing approaches may ignore clinically meaningful presentations of related symptoms at the item level. The current study illustrates CDMs using item-level data from college students (40 items from 719 respondents; 34.6% men, 83.9% White, and 16.3% first-year students). Specifically, we evaluated the constellation of four postulated domains (i.e., alcohol-related problems, anxiety, hostility, and depression) as a set of attribute profiles using CDMs. After accounting for the impact of each attribute (i.e., postulated domain) on the estimates of attribute profiles, the results demonstrated that when items or attributes have limited information, CDMs can utilize item-level information in the associated attributes to generate potentially meaningful estimates and profiles, compared to analyzing each attribute independently. We introduce a novel visual inspection aid, the lens plot, for quantifying this gain. CDMs may be a useful analytical tool to capture respondents' risk and resilience for prevention research.Item EFFECT OF CURCUMIN ON BODY WEIGHT AND COGNITIVE FUNCTION(2013-04-12) Sarker, MarjanaPurpose: Curcumin (CURC,) a widely-consumed phytochemical, has been reported to attenuate inflammation and improve cognition. The current study addressed the hypothesis that curcumin produces these effects by attenuating adipose tissue. In this study, curcumin-fed, middle aged (15 months) C57BL/6 male mice were used as an experimental model. Methods: Three groups were used in the study: Ad libitum (AL), Caloric restriction (30%) and CURC (1000mg/kg of diet). The mice underwent different cognitive tests (n=19) after 8 weeks of dietary treatment, which tested spatial function (Morris water maze, MWM) and cognitive flexibility (Discriminated active avoidance, DA). Adipose tissue, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) was collected at the end of the 12 week treatment. Results: Calorically restricted mice (30.33+0.86) weighed significantly less than mice consuming CURC (34.89+0.72) or the AL mice (34.09+0.64), beginning from week 2 of treatment. Food intake of CURC (3.60+0.12) was significantly higher than AL (3.26+0.09) mice. Caloric restriction (8.53+0.70) and CURC (8.16+0.45) took fewer trials to reach criterion in session 3 of DA compared to AL (10.19+0.83). On average, CR (12.33+0.78) took fewer trials to reach criterion in DA. No significant difference between the groups in learning index of MWM. Caloric restriction mice has decreased VAT(0.31+0.03) and SAT (0.26+ 0.02) compared to CURC, VAT(1.09+0.09) and SAT (0.54+0.07), and AL, VAT (1.16+0.11) and SAT (0.61+0.08). Conclusions: Results from this study indicate that curcumin supplementation has positive effects on specific domains of cognition independent of adiposity. Curcumin supplementation may also be responsible for blunting weight gain since CURC mice have increased food intake compared to AL but there is no significant difference in weight between CURC and AL mice.Item Evaluation of Neighborhood-Level Disadvantage and Cognition in Mexican American and Non-Hispanic White Adults 50 Years and Older in the US(American Medical Association, 2023-08-30) Wong, Christina G.; Miller, Justin B.; Zhang, Fan; Rissman, Robert A.; Raman, Rema; Hall, James R.; Petersen, Melissa E.; Yaffe, Kristine; Kind, Amy J.; O'Bryant, Sid E.; Team, HABS-HD StudyIMPORTANCE: Understanding how socioeconomic factors are associated with cognitive aging is important for addressing health disparities in Alzheimer disease. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association of neighborhood disadvantage with cognition among a multiethnic cohort of older adults. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this cross-sectional study, data were collected between September 1, 2017, and May 31, 2022. Participants were from the Health and Aging Brain Study-Health Disparities, which is a community-based single-center study in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas. A total of 1614 Mexican American and non-Hispanic White adults 50 years and older were included. EXPOSURE: Neighborhood disadvantage for participants' current residence was measured by the validated Area Deprivation Index (ADI); ADI Texas state deciles were converted to quintiles, with quintile 1 representing the least disadvantaged area and quintile 5 the most disadvantaged area. Covariates included age, sex, and educational level. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Performance on cognitive tests assessing memory, language, attention, processing speed, and executive functioning; measures included the Spanish-English Verbal Learning Test (SEVLT) Learning and Delayed Recall subscales; Wechsler Memory Scale, third edition (WMS-III) Digit Span Forward, Digit Span Backward, and Logical Memory 1 and 2 subscales; Trail Making Test (TMT) parts A and B; Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST); Letter Fluency; and Animal Naming. Raw scores were used for analyses. Associations between neighborhood disadvantage and neuropsychological performance were examined via demographically adjusted linear regression models stratified by ethnic group. RESULTS: Among 1614 older adults (mean [SD] age, 66.3 [8.7] years; 980 women [60.7%]), 853 were Mexican American (mean [SD] age, 63.9 [7.9] years; 566 women [66.4%]), and 761 were non-Hispanic White (mean [SD] age, 69.1 [8.7] years; 414 women [54.4%]). Older Mexican American adults were more likely to reside in the most disadvantaged areas (ADI quintiles 3-5), with 280 individuals (32.8%) living in ADI quintile 5, whereas a large proportion of older non-Hispanic White adults resided in ADI quintile 1 (296 individuals [38.9%]). Mexican American individuals living in more disadvantaged areas had worse performance than those living in ADI quintile 1 on 7 of 11 cognitive tests, including SEVLT Learning (ADI quintile 5: beta = -2.50; 95% CI, -4.46 to -0.54), SEVLT Delayed Recall (eg, ADI quintile 3: beta = -1.11; 95% CI, -1.97 to -0.24), WMS-III Digit Span Forward (eg, ADI quintile 4: beta = -1.14; 95% CI, -1.60 to -0.67), TMT part A (ADI quintile 5: beta = 7.85; 95% CI, 1.28-14.42), TMT part B (eg, ADI quintile 5: beta = 31.5; 95% CI, 12.16-51.35), Letter Fluency (ADI quintile 4: beta = -2.91; 95% CI, -5.39 to -0.43), and DSST (eg, ADI quintile 5: beta = -4.45; 95% CI, -6.77 to -2.14). In contrast, only non-Hispanic White individuals living in ADI quintile 4 had worse performance than those living in ADI quintile 1 on 4 of 11 cognitive tests, including SEVLT Learning (beta = -2.35; 95% CI, -4.40 to -0.30), SEVLT Delayed Recall (beta = -0.95; 95% CI, -1.73 to -0.17), TMT part B (beta = 15.95; 95% CI, 2.47-29.44), and DSST (beta = -3.96; 95% CI, -6.49 to -1.43). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: In this cross-sectional study, aging in a disadvantaged area was associated with worse cognitive functioning, particularly for older Mexican American adults. Future studies examining the implications of exposure to neighborhood disadvantage across the life span will be important for improving cognitive outcomes in diverse populations.Item Neurobehavioral and biochemical consequences of chronic, low-dose methamphetamine exposure in male and female mice(2022-08) Davis, Delaney L.; Sumien, Nathalie; Huang, Ren-Qi; Gatch, Michael B.; Phillips, Nicole R.; Schreihofer, Derek A.; Ma, RongAlthough prescription psychostimulants are effective in reducing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptomology, misuse of these drugs can pose serious risks such as potential abuse, dependence, and/or neurotoxicity. Of particular concern is that young adults have the highest prevalence of prescription stimulant misuse, with almost 10% of college students admitting to using amphetamine (e.g. Adderall) or methylphenidate (e.g. Ritalin) products. Despite these drugs being widely used for therapeutic and recreational use, the long-term effects of prescription stimulants have not been systematically evaluated in controlled clinical trials. Therefore, it is critical to conduct this research because young adults may be a vulnerable, at-risk population to the potential adverse consequences of long-term amphetamine use. This dissertation research evaluates the biochemical and behavioral consequences of chronic exposure of the prototypical psychostimulant, methamphetamine (METH), in a rodent model. It is hypothesized that repeated doses of METH, within the therapeutic dosing range used in a clinical setting, will induce neurotoxicity through the interplay of biological mechanisms of oxidative stress, glutamate excitotoxicity, neuroinflammation and epigenetic alterations and increase susceptibility to addiction that will be exacerbated by aging processes. Overall, the body of results showed short-term alterations in brain biochemistry and behavioral function, that do not necessarily persist past 5 months after METH treatment. In conclusion, this dissertation highlights the importance of long-term studies in addressing prescription stimulant misuse in an adult population to better understand the safety of these widely used and prescribed psychostimulants.Item Novel pharmacotherapy: NNI-362, an allosteric p70S6 kinase stimulator, reverses cognitive and neural regenerative deficits in models of aging and disease(BioMed Central Ltd., 2021-01-13) Sumien, Nathalie; Wells, Matthew S.; Sidhu, Akram; Wong, Jessica M.; Forster, Michael J.; Zheng, Qiao-Xi; Kelleher-Andersson, Judith A.Aging is known to slow the neurogenic capacity of the hippocampus, one of only two mammalian adult neurogenic niches. The reduction of adult-born neurons with age may initiate cognitive decline progression which is exacerbated in chronic neurodegenerative disorders, e.g., Alzheimer's disease (AD). With physiologic neurogenesis diminished, but still viable in aging, non-invasive therapeutic modulation of this neuron regeneration process remains possible. The discovery of truly novel neuron regenerative therapies could be identified through phenotypic screening of small molecules that promote adult-born neurons from human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs). By identifying neuron-generating therapeutics and potentially novel mechanism of actions, therapeutic benefit could be confirmed through in vivo proof-of-concept studies. The key aging and longevity mTOR/p70S6 kinase axis, a commonly targeted pathway, is substrate for potential selective kinase modulators to promote new hippocampal neurons from NPCs. The highly regulated downstream substrate of mTOR, p70S6 kinase, directly controls pleiotropic cellular activities, including translation and cell growth. Stimulating this kinase, selectively in an adult neurogenic niche, should promote NPC proliferation, and cell growth and survival in the hippocampus. Studies of kinase profiling and immunocytochemistry of human progenitor neurogenesis suggest that the novel small molecule NNI-362 stimulates p70S6 kinase phosphorylation, which, in turn, promotes proliferation and differentiation of NPCs to neurons. NNI-362 promoted the associative reversal of age- and disease-related cognitive deficits in aged mice and Down syndrome-modeled mice. This oral, allosteric modulator may ultimately be beneficial for age-related neurodegenerative disorders involving hippocampal-dependent cognitive impairment, specifically AD, by promoting endogenous hippocampal regeneration.Item RBAP48 AS A POTENTIAL MEMORY GENE(2014-03) Manheim, Jessica; Rybalchenko, Nataliya; Singh, MeharvanAging individuals tend to experience cognitive decline, which provide an opportunity to investigate why some individuals age successfully while others do not. Our study investigates RbAp48, a gene related to cognitive function, to determine if the expression of this “memory gene” declines with age. Our data suggests that RbAp48 does decrease with age, and future studies will test whether steroid hormones, which have known influences on cognitive function, play a role in regulating RbAp48 gene expression. Purpose (a): With aging, there is a tendency for humans to experience cognitive decline. These variations in cognitive functioning provide an opportunity to investigate the reasons why some individuals age successfully versus those that do not. In a comprehensive analysis of gene regulation in the normal aging processes, it was recently shown that the histone binding protein, RbAp48, is implicated in age-related memory loss. Given the suggested role of RbAp48 in cognitive function, we sought to determine if, in animal models of aging currently being used in our laboratory, RbAp48 declines with age. Methods (b): We evaluated the expression of RbAp48 in the hippocampus of female C57Bl/6 mice that were 7.5 months and 25.5 months of age, representing young adult and old mice. RbAp48 mRNA was assessed using reverse transcriptase (rt) conversion of RNA to cDNA, followed by real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). In parallel, the levels of GAPDH, a “housekeeping” gene, was measured to take into consideration variation in starting material. Differences in expression of RbAp48 were based on the delta-delta CT methodology published by Livak and Schmittgen (2001). Statistical evaluation of differences between experimental groups was determined using a two-tailed t-test. Results (c): Our data revealed an approximate 21% reduction in the levels of RbAp48 mRNA in the 25.5 month mice, compared to the 7.5 month mice. While not statistically significant (n=3, p=0.0791), we anticipate that these data warrant further analysis and expansion of our sample size to more reliably ascertain differences as a function of chronological age. Conclusions (d): These studies suggest that the expression of RbAp48, a presumptive “memory gene”, declines with age. Our future studies will determine if the steroid hormones, estrogen and progesterone, which have known influences on cognitive function, regulate the expression of RbAp48.