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Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs) are a global crisis facing the aging population and society as a whole. With the numbers of people with ADRDs predicted to rise dramatically across the world, the scientific community can no longer neglect the need for research focusing on ADRDs among underrepresented ethnoracial diverse groups. The Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART; alz.org/ISTAART) comprises a number of professional interest areas (PIAs), each focusing on a major scientific area associated with ADRDs. We leverage the expertise of the existing international cadre of ISTAART scientists and experts to synthesize a cross-PIA white paper that provides both a concise "state-of-the-science" report of ethnoracial factors across PIA foci and updated recommendations to address immediate needs to advance ADRD science across ethnoracial populations.

The possibility of impaired cognitive function during deep space flight missions or while living on a Martian colony is a critical point of concern and pleads for further research. In addition, a fundamental gap exists both in our understanding and application of countermeasures for the consequences of long duration space travel and/or living in an extreme environment such as on the Moon or Mars. Previous studies, while heavily analyzing pre-and post-flight conditions, mostly fail to appreciate the cognitive stressors associated with space radiation, microgravity, confinement, hostile or closed environments, and the long distances from earth. A specific understanding of factors that affect cognition as well as structural and/or physiological changes in the brains of those on a space mission in addition to new countermeasures should result in improved health of our astronauts and reduce risks. At the core of cognitive changes are mechanisms we typically associate with aging, such as inflammatory responses, changes in brain metabolism, depression, and memory impairments. In fact, space flight appears to accelerate aging. In this review, we will discuss the importance of monitoring inflammatory and immune system mediators such as nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB), and mitochondrial changes related to brain metabolism. We conclude with our recommended countermeasures that include pharmacological, metabolic, and nutritional considerations for the risks on cognition during space missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The brain has a high demand for energy, of which creatine (Cr) is an important regulator. Studies document neurocognitive benefits of oral Cr in mammals, yet little is known regarding their physiological basis. This study investigated the effects of Cr supplementation (3%, w/w) on hippocampal function in male C57BL/6 mice, including spatial learning and memory in the Morris water maze and oxygen consumption rates from isolated mitochondria in real time. Levels of transcription factors and related proteins (CREB, Egr1, and I?B to indicate NF-?B activity), proteins implicated in cognition (CaMKII, PSD-95, and Egr2), and mitochondrial proteins (electron transport chain Complex I, mitochondrial fission protein Drp1) were probed with Western blotting. Dietary Cr decreased escape latency/time to locate the platform (P < 0.05) and increased the time spent in the target quadrant (P < 0.01) in the Morris water maze. This was accompanied by increased coupled respiration (P < 0.05) in isolated hippocampal mitochondria. Protein levels of CaMKII, PSD-95, and Complex 1 were increased in Cr-fed mice, whereas I?B was decreased. These data demonstrate that dietary supplementation with Cr can improve learning, memory, and mitochondrial function and have important implications for the treatment of diseases affecting memory and energy homeostasis.

Until very recently, the conventional optical resolution limits for far-field infrared (IR) imaging were ~5-10 [micro]m, given the 2-25 [micro]m wavelengths and the typical optics of mid-IR microscopes. In 2011, [...]

Until very recently, the conventional optical resolution limits for far-field infrared (IR) imaging were ~5-10 urn, given the 2-25 [micro]m wavelengths and the typical optics of mid-IR microscopes. In 2011, [...]

Microbial infections of the brain can lead to dementia, and for many decades microbial infections have been implicated in Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. However, a causal role for infection in AD remains contentious, and the lack of standardized detection methodologies has led to inconsistent detection/identification of microbes in AD brains. There is a need for a consensus methodology; the Alzheimer's Pathobiome Initiative aims to perform comparative molecular analyses of microbes in post mortem brains versus cerebrospinal fluid, blood, olfactory neuroepithelium, oral/nasopharyngeal tissue, bronchoalveolar, urinary, and gut/stool samples. Diverse extraction methodologies, polymerase chain reaction and sequencing techniques, and bioinformatic tools will be evaluated, in addition to direct microbial culture and metabolomic techniques. The goal is to provide a roadmap for detecting infectious agents in patients with mild cognitive impairment or AD. Positive findings would then prompt tailoring of antimicrobial treatments that might attenuate or remit mounting clinical deficits in a subset of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: We previously introduced a machine learning-based Alzheimer's Disease Designation (MAD) framework for identifying AD-related metabolic patterns among neurodegenerative subjects.Objective: We sought to assess the efficiency of our MAD framework for tracing the longitudinal brain metabolic changes in the prodromal stage of AD.Methods: MAD produces subject scores using five different machine-learning algorithms, which include a general linear model (GLM), two different approaches of scaled subprofile modeling, and two different approaches of a support vector machine. We used our pre-trained MAD framework, which was trained based on metabolic brain features of 94 patients with AD and 111 age-matched cognitively healthy (CH) individuals. The MAD framework was applied on longitudinal independent test sets including 54 CHs, 51 stable mild cognitive impairment (sMCI), and 39 prodromal AD (pAD) patients at the time of the clinical diagnosis of AD, and two years prior.Results: The GLM showed excellent performance with area under curve (AUC) of 0.96 in distinguishing sMCI from pAD patients at two years prior to the time of the clinical diagnosis of AD while other methods showed moderate performance (AUC: 0.7-0.8). Significant annual increment of MAD scores were identified using all five algorithms in pAD especially when it got closer to the time of diagnosis (p < 0.001), but not in sMCI. The increased MAD scores were also significantly associated with cognitive decline measured by Mini-Mental State Examination in pAD (q < 0.01).Conclusion: These results suggest that MAD may be a relevant tool for monitoring disease progression in the prodromal stage of AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although choline is essential for brain development and neural function, the effect of choline on retina function is not well understood. This study examined the effects of choline on neural tissues of brain and retina, and membrane phospholipid (PL) composition during fetal development. Pregnant C57BL/6 mice were fed one of 4 choline modified diets: i) control (Cont, 2.5g/kg), ii) choline deficient (Def, 0g/kg), iii) supplemented with choline chloride (Cho, 10g/kg) and iv) supplemented with egg phosphatidylcholine (PC, 10g/kg). At postnatal day (PD) 21, pups were weaned onto their mothers' respective diets until PD 45. Spatial memory was measured using the Morris Water Maze; retina function by electroretinogram (ERG); and PL composition with nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Cho and PC supplementation enhanced cued learning and spatial memory abilities, respectively (p Def > PC > Cho, with no statistically significant alterations in cone-driven responses. There were no differences in the composition of major PLs in the brain and retina. In the brain, subclasses of ether PL, alkyl acyl- phosphatidylethanolamine (PEaa) and phosphatidylcholine (PCaa) were significantly greater among the PC supplemented group in comparison to the Def group. These results indicate that while choline supplementation during gestation to an early developmental period is beneficial for spatial memory, contributions to retina function are minor. Assessment with a larger sample size of retinas could warrant the essentiality of choline for retina development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]