Imaging of Cognition, Learning, and Memory in Aging

This investigation is designed to study how the brain functions when it is performing explicit memory tasks, and furthermore how the brain systems supporting performance on these tests change as a function of aging. Implicit memory tasks may be distinguished from explicit memory tests in that explicit memory characterizes the directed or intentional recollection of previously learned information or events. In contrast, implicit (or nonconscious) memory is expressed in the facilitation of performance on some task or judgment on a stimulus owing to a prior presentation of that stimulus, without any necessary conscious awareness of the prior presentation. The investigators propose to use functional Magnetic resonance Imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity during the performance of carefully designed explicit memory tasks. Comparison of brain activity during the different test conditions will provide information about the brain areas that are involved in mediating specific aspects of performance. Both older and younger individuals will be tested in order to understand age related changes in the brain activity. In order to examine the interactions between participants' differential levels of amyloid burden and their performance on cognitive tasks and fMRI neural activation, the investigators also propose PET imaging of older participants.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Alzheimer's Disease
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Florbetaben

Detailed Description

The basic approach to measuring the brain activity associated with a given cognitive process (or processes) is as follows: It is known that increases in brain neuronal activity are associated with local increases in energy metabolism. Under normal circumstances, increases in brain metabolism lead to local changes in blood oxygenation in venules and larger veins. This change in blood oxygenation can be detected imaging methods which are sensitive to the differences in magnetic state between oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin.

The ultimate benefit of this research is to better understand how changes in both performance and the brain organization underlying that performance are affected by aging.

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Actual): 294

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10032
      • Columbia University Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 20 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Subjects will be recruited from ads placed in local newspapers and notices posted in the vicinity of Columbia University, the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, and in local senior centers that provide written consent for notice placement. We will also utilize a market mailing approach. Letters will be sent to appropriately aged potential subjects randomly selected from commercial lists. Additional elderly subjects will be recruited from the Sergievsky Joint Database. Informed consent will be elicited from all subjects.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Aged 20-30 or 60-70
• Residing near Columbia University Medical Center
• Must be willing and able to participate

Exclusion Criteria:

• Have a contraindication to PET (e.g, metallic implants, pacemaker, claustrophobia, or cannot lie flat for one hour)
• Pregnancy
• Lactating Women
• Current, past, or anticipated exposure to radiation
• Significant active physical illness

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

2

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort	Intervention / Treatment
Participants aged 60-70; Participants age 60-70 will receive Florbetaben PET tracer to identify presence of amyloid burden.	Drug: Florbetaben; This is a purely observational study. Results of the Florbetaben PET scan will be correlated with other observations.; Other Names: F-18 BAY
Participants aged 20-30; Younger participants will not undergo PET scanning that will be studied with other methods.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Cognition as measured with cognitive evaluations	We will assess the relationship between the presence of amyloid and cognition as measured with standard cognitive and neuropsychological tests	cross sectional

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Yaakov Stern
• Collaborators: National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Oh H, Steffener J, Razlighi QR, Habeck C, Stern Y. beta-Amyloid Deposition Is Associated with Decreased Right Prefrontal Activation during Task Switching among Cognitively Normal Elderly. J Neurosci. 2016 Feb 10;36(6):1962-70. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3266-15.2016.
• Oh H, Steffener J, Razlighi QR, Habeck C, Liu D, Gazes Y, Janicki S, Stern Y. Abeta-related hyperactivation in frontoparietal control regions in cognitively normal elderly. Neurobiol Aging. 2015 Dec;36(12):3247-3254. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2015.08.016. Epub 2015 Aug 24.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2011
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): October 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 14, 2011
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 15, 2011
• First Posted (Estimate): February 16, 2011

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): November 1, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 30, 2017
• Last Verified: October 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neurocognitive Disorders; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Dementia; Tauopathies; Alzheimer Disease
• Other Study ID Numbers: AAAB0596; R01AG026158 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: De-identified data could be shared based on NIH regulations
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Study data will be available within 1 year
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: We will be sharing de-identified data with a consortium that is aggregating studies that have employed amyloid PET tracers