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Background: Aging is a complex and natural process. The physiological decline related to aging is accompanied by a slowdown in cognitive processes, which begins shortly after individuals reach maturity. These changes have been sometimes interpreted as a compensatory sign and others as a fingerprint of deterioration. Objective: In this context, our aim is to uncover the mechanisms that underlie and support normal cognitive functioning in the brain during the later stages of life. Methods: With this purpose, a systematic literature search was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science databases, which identified 781 potential articles. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, we selected 12 studies that examined the brain oscillations patterns in resting-state conditions associated with cognitive performance in cognitively unimpaired older adults. Results: Although cognitive healthy aging was characterized differently across studies, and various approaches to analyzing brain activity were employed, our review indicates a relationship between alpha peak frequency (APF) and improved performance in neuropsychological scores among cognitively unimpaired older adults. Conclusions: A higher APF is linked with a higher score in intelligence, executive function, and general cognitive performance, and could be considered an optimal, and easy-to-assess, electrophysiological marker of cognitive health in older adults.

Cerebrovascular disease is responsible for up to 20% of cases of dementia worldwide, but also it is a major comorbid contributor to the progression of other neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s disease. White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are the most prevalent imaging marker in cerebrovascular disease. The presence and progression of WMH in the brain have been associated with general cognitive impairment and the risk to develop all types of dementia. The aim of this piece of work is the assessment of brain functional differences in an MCI population based on the WMH volume. One-hundred and twenty-nine individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) underwent a neuropsychological evaluation, MRI assessment (T1 and Flair), and MEG recordings (5 min of eyes closed resting state). Those participants were further classified into vascular MCI (vMCI; n = 61, mean age 75 ± 4 years, 35 females) or non-vascular MCI (nvMCI; n = 56, mean age 72 ± 5 years, 36 females) according to their WMH total volume, assessed with an automatic detection toolbox, LST (SPM12). We used a completely data-driven approach to evaluate the differences in the power spectra between the groups. Interestingly, three clusters emerged: One cluster with widespread larger theta power and two clusters located in both temporal regions with smaller beta power for vMCI compared to nvMCI. Those power signatures were also associated with cognitive performance and hippocampal volume. Early identification and classification of dementia pathogenesis is a crucially important goal for the search for more effective management approaches. These findings could help to understand and try to palliate the contribution of WMH to particular symptoms in mixed dementia progress., Depto. de Radiología, Rehabilitación y Fisioterapia, Fac. de Medicina, TRUE, pub

Delayed recall (DR) impairment is one of the most significant predictive factors in defining the progression to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Changes in brain functional connectivity (FC) could accompany this decline in the DR performance even in a resting state condition from the preclinical stages to the diagnosis of AD itself, so the characterization of the relationship between the two phenomena has attracted increasing interest. Another aspect to contemplate is the potential moderator role of the APOE genotype in this association, considering the evidence about their implication for the disease. 379 subjects (118 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 261 cognitively intact (CI) individuals) underwent an extensive evaluation, including MEG recording. Applying cluster-based permutation test, we identified a cluster of differences in FC and studied which connections drove such an effect in DR. The moderation effect of APOE genotype between FC results and delayed recall was evaluated too. Higher FC in beta band in the right occipital region is associated with lower DR scores in both groups. A significant anteroposterior link emerged in the seed-based analysis with higher values in MCI. Moreover, APOE genotype appeared as a moderator between beta FC and DR performance only in the CI group. An increased beta FC in the anteroposterior brain region appears to be associated with lower memory performance in MCI. This finding could help discriminate the pattern of the progression of healthy aging to MCI and the relation between resting state and memory performance., Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Depto. de Radiología, Rehabilitación y Fisioterapia, Fac. de Medicina, TRUE, pub

Background: Cognitive impairment and dementia may result from a combination of modifiable and nonmodifiable risk and protective factors, such as the environment, educational attainment, time devoted to cognitively stimulating activities, and physical activity. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the mediating role of sociodemographic characteristics and lifestyle factors in the years of education and cognitive performance in Peruvian adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 1,478 subjects assessed by Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination Revised (ACE-R). Using mediation models, we evaluated the mediation role of parents’ educational level, reading time (RT), and physical activity time (PAT) in the years of education (IYE) and cognitive performance. Results: People who reported having lived in an urban area during their childhood are estimated to have, on average, 2.085 years more formal education than those who lived in rural areas. In addition, 49% of cognitive performance scores are explained by the mediation effect of reading and physical activity time in the IYE. This implies that higher levels of education, mediated by RT and PAT per week, are 1.596 units associated with higher scores on the ACE-R. Conclusion: Despite the fact that nonmodifiable factors (i.e., childhood residence area, parents’ educational level) seem to exert an effect on older adults’ cognition, their influence is mediated by other factors that are indeed modifiable (i.e., reading time, physical activity engagement). In this sense, lifestyle changes could help prevent or decrease the risk of cognitive impairment and reduce the disease’s impact on vulnerable environments in Latin American and Caribbean countries.

La comorbilidad entre un trastorno por uso de sustancias y otros trastornos psiquiátricos o patología dual (PD) se caracteriza por la dificultad en su abordaje terapéutico, recaídas constantes e ingresos hospitalarios. Nuestro objetivo fue conocer la prevalencia de PD en un centro psiquiátrico de Arequipa-Perú. Es un estudio descriptivo epidemiológico basado en el análisis de 445 historias clínicas (HC) de pacientes ingresados durante el lapso de tres años (periodo 2011-2013). Se establecieron características sociodemográficas y clínicas de los sujetos comparando entre quienes presentaron un diagnóstico de PD, con aquellos que solo tuvieron diagnóstico por consumo de sustancias psicótropas. Los resultados evidencian una prevalencia de patología dual de 49%. Las edades promedio fueron de M = 31.45, DE = 15.59 en el grupo con patología dual (CPD) y M = 33.93, DE = 15.48 en el grupo sin patología dual (SPD); la prevalencia del consumo de sustancias SPD fue del 51%. El alcohol fue la sustancia más consumida, seguida de cannabis, marihuana y la pasta básica de cocaína (PBC). Se evidencia la vulnerabilidad socio-familiar e individual de la población en cuanto a protección o resistencia frente a la enfermedad mental, además de la carencia de políticas efectivas en salud mental, que muestran peor pronóstico e índices cada vez más elevados.

The epidemiologic studies of cognitive decline show a clear relationship between the educational level and the presence of cognitive deterioration in aged populations. In our city there are not investigations that approach this problem for what we try to carry out a first approach to the consequences of the aging and the educational low-level on the cognitive processes. For this we evaluated 280 old age fellows of three districts of the city of Arequipa with the Mini Mental State Examination (Mini Mental) and a questionnaire of sociodemographic variables. Our results show a significant relationship between the age and the cognitive deterioration being observed in lower score in subject with more age; we also observe that those subject with more educational level show higher score. These first approaches to the cognitive deterioration in our city put of relief the importance of the implementation of effective political programs that allow the access to the education to most of our population., Los estudios epidemiológicos muestran una clara relación entre el nivel educativo y la presencia de deterioro cognitivo en poblaciones envejecidas. En nuestro medio no existen investigaciones que aborden esta problemática por lo que pretendemos realizar una primera aproximación a las consecuencias del envejecimiento y el bajo nivel educativo sobre los procesos cognitivos. Para esto evaluamos a 280 sujetos adultos mayores de tres distritos de la ciudad Arequipa con el Examen Mental Abreviado (Mini Mental) y un cuestionario de variables sociodemográficas. Nuestros resultados muestran una relación significativa entre la edad y el deterioro cognitivo observándose puntajes más bajos en sujetos con mayor edad; además observamos que los sujetos con mayor nivel educativo muestran puntajes más altos. Estas primeras aproximaciones al deterioro cognitivo en nuestro medio ponen de relieve la importancia de la implementación de políticas socioeducativas eficaces que permitan el acceso a la educación a la mayoría de nuestra población.