Cognitive Vulnerability to Stress in Individuals at Risk for Alzheimer's Disease (Stress-AD)
Johns Hopkins University
Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about how genetics and the response to stress predicts cognitive decline in individuals with mild cognitive impairment. The main question\[s\] it aims to answer are: * Does the hormone response to acute stress predict the degree of cognitive impairment following acute stress? * Do genes associated with the risk for Alzheimer's disease influence the relationship between stress hormone response to stress and cognitive impairment following stress? * Do cognitive impairment following acute stress and genes associated with the risk for Alzheimer's disease predict cognitive decline and change in biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease 2 years later? Participants will have 3 in-person study visits. The first 2 will occur at baseline and the 3rd visit will occur 2 years later. During the visits, participants will provide blood and saliva samples, undergo a 10-minute social stress procedure, complete questionnaires, and take tests of memory and other thinking skills. Someone who knows the participant (a "study partner") will be asked questions about the participant's daily functioning at the first and 3rd study visits.
Description
In the wake of discouraging results from treatment trials in Alzheimer's disease (AD), there is emerging consensus that the lack of efficacy in these trials is attributable to heterogeneity in the course of AD. Among the potential causes of heterogeneity, the investigators aim to focus on vulnerability to acute stress. Although associations between stress and the risk of AD are well established, these findings have not been used to inform AD intervention efforts. The investigators aim to address this crucial gap. Considering that in healthy individuals, acute stress can impair cognition in tho…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 60+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria for Subjects with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) * Age 60 and older * Fluent English speaker * Able to provide informed consent for study procedures * Willing and able to return for 2-year-followup visit * Willing and able to provide an informant who can participate in the screening and 2-year study visits * BMI \>17 and \<30 * Meets clinical and cognitive criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) using National Institute on Aging (NIA)/Alzheimer's Association 2011 criteria (see below) Exclusion Criteria for Subjects with MCI * Current smoker * Current or past history…
Interventions
- BehavioralTrier Social Stress Test
Acute psychosocial stress procedure; 5 minutes of public speaking and 5 minutes of mental arithmetic
Location
- Johns Hopkins School of MedicineBaltimore, Maryland