METHODS: Data of 2322 representative community-dwelling older adults were obtained from the first wave of the "Longitudinal Study on Neuroprotective Model for Healthy Longevity" national survey. Cognitive function, physical fitness and social network was assessed through Malay-version of Mini-Mental State Examination, 2-min step test and Lubben Social Network Scale-6 respectively. Moderated hierarchical multiple regression was employed to investigate if social networks moderate the relationship between physical fitness and cognitive function.
RESULTS: A positive association between physical fitness and cognitive function were found upon controlling for covariates. Moderated hierarchical multiple regression revealed social networks to be a moderator of the association between physical fitness and cognitive function. When physical fitness was low, those with small social network revealed lowest cognitive function.
CONCLUSIONS: Social networks moderated the relationship between physical fitness and cognitive function as older adults with low levels of physical fitness and small social networks revealed lowest cognitive function. Therefore, community support or peer-based interventions among physically unfit older adults should be implemented to promote cognitive function.
METHODS: The study included 2322 community-dwelling older adults in Malaysia who were randomly selected through a multistage proportional cluster random sampling technique. Global cognition construct was measured by the Mini-Mental State Examination and Montreal Cognitive Assessment; psychosocial stress construct was measured by perceived stress, depression, loneliness, and neuroticism; and processing speed was assessed by the Digit Symbol Substitution Test. Structural equation modelling was used to analyze the mediation and moderation tests.
RESULTS: Processing speed was found to partially mediate the relationship between psychosocial stress and global cognition (β in the direct model = -0.15, P
METHODS: In this study, the effect of xanthone-enriched fraction of Garcinia mangostana (XEFGM) and α-mangostin (α-MG) were investigated on cognitive functions of the chronic cerebral hypoperfusion (CCH) rats.
KEY FINDINGS: HPLC analysis revealed that XEFGM contained 55.84% of α-MG. Acute oral administration of XEFGM (25, 50 and 100 mg/kg) and α-MG (25 and 50 mg/kg) before locomotor activity and Morris water maze (MWM) tests showed no significant difference between the groups for locomotor activity.
CONCLUSIONS: However, α-MG (50 mg/kg) and XEFGM (100 mg/kg) reversed the cognitive impairment induced by CCH in MWM test. α-MG (50 mg/kg) was further tested upon sub-acute 14-day treatment in CCH rats. Cognitive improvement was shown in MWM test but not in long-term potentiation (LTP). BDNF but not CaMKII was found to be down-regulated in CCH rats; however, both parameters were not affected by α-MG. In conclusion, α-MG ameliorated learning and memory deficits in both acute and sub-acute treatments in CCH rats by improving the spatial learning but not hippocampal LTP. Hence, α-MG may be a promising lead compound for CCH-associated neurodegenerative diseases, including vascular dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
METHODS: Male Sprague Dawley rats were subjected to permanent bilateral occlusion of common carotid arteries (PBOCCA) or sham surgery. Then, PBOCCA rats received ip injections with, either vehicle (control group), the muscarinic receptor agonist oxotremorine (0.1 mg/kg), or the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor physostigmine (0.1 mg/kg). Cognitive functions were evaluated using a passive avoidance task and the Morris water maze test. In addition, hippocampal LTP was recorded in vivo under anaesthesia.
RESULTS: The PBOCCA rats exhibited significant deficits in passive avoidance retention and spatial learning and memory tests. They also showed a suppression of LTP formation in the hippocampus. Oxotremorine and physostigmine significantly improved the learning and memory deficits as well as the suppression of LTP in PBOCCA rats.
CONCLUSIONS: The present data suggest that the cholinergic system plays an important role in CCH-induced cognitive deficits and could be an effective therapeutic target for the treatment of VaD.
METHODS: Data for this study, consisting of 2202 older adults aged 60 years and above, were taken from a population-based survey entitled "Identifying Psychosocial and Identifying Economic Risk Factor of Cognitive Impairment among Elderly. Data analysis was conducted using the IBM SPSS Version 23.0.
RESULTS: The mean of MMSE was found to be 22.67 (SD = 4.93). The overall prevalence of selfreported diabetes was found to be 23.6% (CI95%: 21.8% - 25.4%). The result of independent t-test showed diabetic subjects had a higher mean score of MMSE (M = 23.05, SD =4 .55) than their counterparts without diabetes (M = 22.55, SD = 5.04) (t = -2.13 p
Aim: To analyse various pain scales commonly used to determine the effect of different pain control methods during debonding of orthodontic brackets. Study Design. A comparative cross-sectional study performed on a sample of 60 patients (n = 60) including 14 males and 46 females who were ready for debonding and who were divided into three groups, i.e., finger pressure (FP), elastomeric wafer (EW), and stress relief (SR).
Materials and Methods: A 100 mm Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used to record the pain intensity for each tooth. Another scale known as Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) was used to evaluate the patient's general attitude towards pain perception. The armamentarium and operator were kept same for all the patients. Statistical analysis used was the Kruskal-Wallis test, used for intergroup and intragroup comparison of pain scores.
Results: Lowest total pain score was recorded in the FP group (P=0.043) on intergroup comparison, while on intragroup comparison, higher pain scores were recorded in lower anterior region (P=0.02) in all three groups. There was no significant difference between the pain scores reported by the male and female subjects.
Conclusion: FP is an effective method of pain control. And teeth in the anterior region of lower and upper arches are more sensitive to pain. In terms of cognitive-affective constructs, although the VAS has been widely used in previous studies, the PCS has been detailed to show the most reliable association with physical discomfort and emotional distress.
METHODS: Medline, Embase, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library were searched from their inception until August 2023 to identify studies using VCAT to diagnose MCI/mild dementia. The primary outcome was to assess the diagnostic accuracy of the VCAT for detecting MCI/mild dementia through area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AU-ROC) analysis. The secondary outcome was to explore the correlation between VCAT scores and MCI/mild dementia presence by comparing scores among patients with and without MCI/mild dementia. Pooled sensitivity, specificity, and area under the curve (AUC) were calculated.
RESULTS: Five studies with 1,446 older adults (mean age 64-68.3 years) were included. The percentage of participants with MCI/mild dementia versus controls ranged from 16.5% to 87% across studies. All studies were conducted in Asian populations, mostly Chinese, in Singapore and Malaysia. The pooled sensitivity was 80% [95% confidence interval (CI) 68%-88%] and the specificity was 75% (95% CI 68%-80%). The AU-ROCC was 0.77 (95% CI 0.73-0.81). Patients with MCI/mild dementia had lower VCAT scores than the controls (mean difference -6.85 points, p