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Very-late-onset schizophrenia-like psychosis (VLOSLP) is associated with significant burden. Its clinical importance is increasing as the global population of older adults rises, yet owing to limited research in this population, the neurobiological underpinnings of VLOSP remain insufficiently clarified. Here we address this knowledge gap using novel morphometry techniques to investigate grey matter volume (GMV) differences between VLOSLP and healthy older adults, and their correlations with neuropsychological scores.
Methods
In this cross-sectional study, we investigated whole-brain GMV differences between 35 individuals with VLOSLP (mean age 76.7, 26 female) and 36 healthy controls (mean age 75.7, 27 female) using whole-brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and supplementary source-based morphometry (SBM) on high resolution 3D T1-weighted MRI images. Additionally, we investigated relationships between GMV differences and cognitive function assessed with an extensive neuropsychological battery.
Results
VBM showed lower GMV in the thalamus, left inferior frontal gyrus and left insula in patients with VLOSLP compared to healthy controls. SBM revealed lower thalamo-temporal GMV in patients with VLOSLP. Processing speed, selective attention, mental flexibility, working memory, verbal memory, semantic fluency and confrontation naming were impaired in patients with VLOSLP. Correlations between thalamic volumes and memory function were significant within the group of individuals with VLOSLP, whereas no significant associations remained in the healthy controls.
Conclusions
Lower GMV in the thalamus and fronto-temporal regions may be part of the underlying neurobiology of VLOSLP, with lower thalamic GMV contributing to memory impairment in the disorder.
Cognitive failure and the fear of losing control over one’s life has occupied mankind for centuries. In our chapter we describe the conceptual history of dementia starting with the first written traces from the twenty-fourth century BCE, relating the story of an Egyptian officer who not only developed the inability to remember yesterday but also became more and more childish. Subsequently, we summarize medical discoveries that have allowed cognitive, psychological and behavioral symptoms of dementia to be viewed as a result of brain disease rather than, for instance, witchcraft or ill will. In the context of growing awareness of neuro-pathophysiological mechanisms underlying dementia, associated with postmortem brain research in the late ninettenth century, Alzheimer’s disease became the ‘face’ of dementia for some time. We discuss further developments in the discovery and in the treatment of different types of dementia, also focusing on psychosocial aspects of the disease. These became an important topic of research as pharmacological treatments aimed at curing the neurodegenerative causes of dementia as yet do not exist. AWe compare how different cultures and societies deal with dementia. Finally, the political and societal attempts to promote social inclusion and empowerment of individuals with dementia are summarized.
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