Memory Performance In Patients Research Articles

Cognitive functions and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor in patients with mild autonomous cortisol secretion.

The impact of abnormal cortisol secretion on cognitive functions in patients with mild autonomous cortisol secretion (MACS) remains uncertain. To assess cognitive functions, determine serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) concentration in patients with MACS, and investigate the association between cognitive subdomains and BDNF. We prospectively recruited 84 participants-28 patients with MACS, 28 patients with nonfunctional adrenal adenoma (NFAA), and 28 control subjects matched for age, gender, body mass index (BMI), visceral adiposity, and educational level. The serum BDNF concentration of participants was measured. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition-focused interviews and Montreal Cognitive Assessments (MoCA) were carried out by an experienced psychiatrist. Patients with MACS had a higher serum BDNF concentration than the NFAA (P = .001), while that of patients with NFAA was lower than the controls (P = .044). Linear regression analysis revealed BMI and morning cortisol after overnight 1 mg dexamethasone (DST) were mostly associated with BDNF (P < .05). No significant difference was found in MoCA scores between MACS and NFAA groups (P = .967), whereas those were lower than the control group (P = .004). When the cognitive subdomains were examined separately, MACS group performed higher memory score than NFAA (P = .045), but lower language scores than both the NFAA (P = .024) and control groups (P < .001). In the whole group, BDNF concentration was positively correlated with memory score (r = 0.337, P = .002), whereas DST was negatively correlated with language score (r = -0.355, P = .008). Low-grade hypercortisolism is associated with elevated BDNF concentrations, which may be a protective factor for memory function in patients with MACS relative to those with NFAA.

Activity-Based Prospective Memory in Insomniacs.

To investigate the activity-based prospective memory performance in patients with insomnia, divided, on the basis of actigraphic evaluation, into sleep onset, maintenance, mixed and negative misperception insomnia. A total of 153 patients with insomnia (I, 83 females, mean age + SD = 41.37 + 16.19 years) and 121 healthy controls (HC, 78 females, mean age + SD = 36.99 + 14.91 years) wore an actigraph for one week. Insomnia was classified into sleep onset insomnia (SOI), maintenance insomnia (MaI), mixed insomnia (MixI) and negative misperception insomnia (NMI). To study their activity-based prospective memory performance, all the participants were required to push the actigraph event marker button twice, at bedtime (task 1) and at get-up time (task 2). Only patients with maintenance and mixed insomnia had a significantly lower accuracy in the activity-based prospective memory task at get-up time compared with the healthy controls. The results show that maintenance and mixed insomnia involve an impaired activity-based prospective memory performance, while sleep onset and negative misperception insomnia do not seem to be affected. This pattern of results suggests that the fragmentation of sleep may play a role in activity-based prospective memory efficiency at wake-up in the morning.

Altered static and dynamic cerebellar-cerebral functional connectivity in acute pontine infarction.

This study investigates abnormalities in cerebellar-cerebral static and dynamic functional connectivity among patients with acute pontine infarction, examining the relationship between these connectivity changes and behavioral dysfunction. Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging was utilized to collect data from 45 patients within seven days post-pontine infarction and 34 normal controls. Seed-based static and dynamic functional connectivity analyses identified divergences in cerebellar-cerebral connectivity features between pontine infarction patients and normal controls. Correlations between abnormal functional connectivity features and behavioral scores were explored. Compared to normal controls, left pontine infarction patients exhibited significantly increased static functional connectivity within the executive, affective-limbic, and motor networks. Conversely, right pontine infarction patients demonstrated decreased static functional connectivity in the executive, affective-limbic, and default mode networks, alongside an increase in the executive and motor networks. Decreased temporal variability of dynamic functional connectivity was observed in the executive and default mode networks among left pontine infarction patients. Furthermore, abnormalities in static and dynamic functional connectivity within the executive network correlated with motor and working memory performance in patients. These findings suggest that alterations in cerebellar-cerebral static and dynamic functional connectivity could underpin the behavioral dysfunctions observed in acute pontine infarction patients.

Revealing complexity: beyond the whole—segmentation of hippocampal subfields in adolescents with depression and its relationships with cognition

IntroductionThe occurrence of depression in adolescence, a critical period of brain development, linked with neuroanatomical and cognitive abnormalities. Neuroimaging studies have identified hippocampal abnormalities in those of adolescent patients. However, few studies have investigated the atypically developmental trends in hippocampal subfields in adolescents with depression and their relationships with cognitive dysfunctions.ObjectivesTo explore the structural abnormalities of hippocampal subfields in patients with youth depression and examine how these abnormalities associated with cognitive deficits.MethodsWe included a sample of 79 first-episode depressive patients (17 males, age = 15.54±1.83) and 71 healthy controls (23 males, age = 16.18±2.85). The severity of these adolescent patients was assessed by depression scale, suicidal risk and self-harm behavior. Nine cognitive tasks were used to evaluate memory, cognitive control and attention abilities for all participants. Bilateral hippocampus were segmented into 12 subfields with T1 and T2 weighted images using Freesurfer v6.0. A mixed analysis of variance was performed to assess the differences in subfields volumes between all patients and controls, and between patients with mild and severe depression. Finally, LASSO regression was conducted to explore the associations between hippocampal subfields and cognitive abnormalities in patients.ResultsWe found significant subfields atrophy in the CA1, CA2/3, CA4, dentate gyrus, hippocampal fissure, hippocampal tail and molecular layer subfields in patients. For those patients with severe depression, hippocampal subfields showed greater extensive atrophy than those in mild, particularly in CA1-4 subfields extending towards the subiculum. These results were similar across various severity assessments. Regression indicated that hippocampal subfields abnormalities had the strongest associations with memory dysfunction, and relatively week associations with cognitive control and attention. Notably, CA4 and dentate gyrus had the highest weights in the regression model.ConclusionsAs depressive severity increases, hippocampal subfield atrophy tends to spread from CA regions to surrounding areas, and primarily affects memory function in patients with youth depression. These results suggest hippocampus might be markers in progression of adolescent depression, offering new directions for early clinical intervention.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Metabolic syndrome associations with neurocognitive function in first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders

We examined the associations between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and neurocognitive function in patients with first-episode schizophrenia spectrum disorders (FES) compared to controls assessed using the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status. In patients, psychopathology was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia. First, we found illness- and domain-specific associations between the individual MetS features and neurocognitive performance in patients, but not in controls. Second, body mass index and total cholesterol levels were lower in patients than controls, which in turn correlated with increased global psychopathology severity and cognitive deficits. Third, negative symptoms moderated the association between low HDL cholesterol and poorer immediate verbal memory performance in patients. Our findings suggest that distinct lipid profile alterations are associated with cognitive performance and psychopathology severity in patients with FES. Further studies are needed to explore the associations of MetS with neurocognition over time, as well as how these relationships are affected by socio-demographic and clinical factors, including depression, anxiety, and related psychopathology.

Hippocampal subfields volume changes and its correlation with memory functions in patients with mild cognitive impairment

BackgroundThis study examined hippocampal subfields volumes in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) as potential non-invasive predictive neuroimaging markers of cognitive decline. MethodsT1-weighted images and Addenbrooke's cognitive examination III (ACE-III) data were obtained from 36 healthy controls and 27 MCI patients. The hippocampal subfields volumes were extracted using Freesurfer software, and group differences and correlation were assessed using general linear model (GLM) with age, sex, and total intracranial volume (TIV) as covariates. ResultsMCI participants exhibited significant decrease in memory scores and notable volumetric changes in hippocampal subfields, including the bilateral hippocampal tail, subiculum, CA1, CA3, molecular layer, as well as the left presubiculum, parasubiculum, CA4, GC-ML-DG, and HATA. Moreover, the left presubiculum, left parasubiculum, and left GC-ML-DG showed significant positive correlations with ACE memory scores in MCI patients. ConclusionsThe alterations in hippocampal subfields in MCI patients may indicate underlying neurodegenerative processes associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology.

Preoperative white matter network organization and memory decline after epilepsy surgery.

Risk for memory decline is a common concern for individuals with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) undergoing surgery. Global and local network abnormalities are well documented in TLE. However, it is less known whether network abnormalities predict postsurgical memory decline. The authors examined the role of preoperative global and local white matter network organization and risk of postoperative memory decline in TLE. One hundred one individuals with TLE (n = 51 with left TLE and 50 with right TLE) underwent preoperative T1-weighted MRI, diffusion MRI, and neuropsychological memory testing in a prospective longitudinal study. Fifty-six age- and sex-matched controls completed the same protocol. Forty-four patients (22 with left TLE and 22 with right TLE) subsequently underwent temporal lobe surgery and postoperative memory testing. Preoperative structural connectomes were generated via diffusion tractography and analyzed using measures of global and local (i.e., medial temporal lobe [MTL]) network organization. Global metrics measured network integration and specialization. The local metric was calculated as an asymmetry of the mean local efficiency between the ipsilateral and contralateral MTLs (i.e., MTL network asymmetry). Higher preoperative global network integration and specialization were associated with higher preoperative verbal memory function in patients with left TLE. Higher preoperative global network integration and specialization, as well as greater leftward MTL network asymmetry, predicted greater postoperative verbal memory decline for patients with left TLE. No significant effects were observed in right TLE. Accounting for preoperative memory score and hippocampal volume asymmetry, MTL network asymmetry uniquely explained 25%-33% of the variance in verbal memory decline for left TLE and outperformed hippocampal volume asymmetry and global network metrics. MTL network asymmetry alone produced good diagnostic classification of memory decline in left TLE (i.e., an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.80-0.84 and correct classification of 65%-76% of cases with cross-validation). These preliminary data suggest that global white matter network disruption contributes to verbal memory impairment preoperatively and predicts postsurgical verbal memory outcomes in left TLE. However, a leftward asymmetry of MTL white matter network organization may confer the highest risk for verbal memory decline. Although this requires replication in a larger sample, the authors demonstrate the importance of characterizing preoperative local white matter network properties within the to-be-operated hemisphere and the reserve capacity of the contralateral MTL network, which may eventually be useful in presurgical planning.

The role of transcranial direct current stimulation in improving learning and memory performances of patients with mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer’s disease: a functional magnetic resonance imaging study

AbstractBackgroundTranscranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a safe non‐invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) procedure which helps to stimulate a particular region of interest by modulating the neuronal firing rate, thereby modulating the cognitive functioning. The tDCS intervention is known to show improvement on memory recall and recognition in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and mild Alzheimer’s Disease (mild AD)MethodWe investigated the effect of anodal stimulation at the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and cathodal stimulation at the right supra‐orbital area in patients with MCI (n = 18) and mild AD (n = 20) (Refer Table 1), after due approval from Institute Ethics Committee NIMHANS. Both baseline and post‐intervention assessments for a single patient were administered by the different assessors allocated randomly using NIMHANS neuropsychological battery for elderly (NNB‐E). Two resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) acquisitions, before and after the ten sessions of tDCS, each session lasting 20 minutes. A spherical mask of 5 mm diameter was chosen a priori on the left middle frontal gyrus (LMFG) as a seed for performing seed based functional connectivity (sbFC) analysis using default preprocessing pipeline and pre‐post analysis setup in CONN 18b toolbox.ResultThe combined sample of patients with MCI and mild AD showed significant improvement in word list learning trial 3 (pre tDCS 5.85 (1.59); post tDCS 6.63 (1.67); Z = 3.586, p&lt;0.0001) and delayed recall (pre tDCS 1.50 (1.88); post tDCS 2.45 (2.33); Z = 3.656, p&lt;0.0001) scores using NNB‐E. The sbFC analysis showed significantly reduced functional connectivity between left MFG (the region of anodal stimulation) and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) as well as precuneus cortex (cluster‐level extent threshold p‐FDR &lt;0.05) after tDCS. Post‐hoc tests showed that these reductions after tDCS intervention were also found to be significantly associated with attention and auditory verbal learning memory scores (Refer Figure 1 and Table 2).ConclusionThe tDCS intervention helped reducing the functional connectivity at rest, which was responsible for compensatory neuronal processes found in early AD. These findings unravel the therapeutic role of tDCS by enhancing auditory verbal memory performance and altering the functional connectivity at PCC and precuneus cortex in earlier stages of AD.

Impact of Polytherapy on Memory Functioning in Patients With Drug-Resistant Epilepsy: The Role of Attention and Executive Functions.

The aim was to examine the effect of polytherapy (i.e., the number of administered anti-seizure medications (ASMs)) on memory, and whether the interaction between the number of ASMs and attentional/executive functioning affect presurgical memory functioning and postsurgical memory changes in patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. Two studies were carried out. Study 1 consisted of a presurgical assessment of 125 adult patients, in which attention/executive function (EpiTrack screening tool) and memory were assessed (cross-sectional study). Of them, 72 patients underwent a second postsurgical evaluation, in which memory was assessed (Study 2). Patients were distributed into groups based on EpiTrack performance and number of ASMs. The interaction between the number of ASMs and the attentional/executive functioning significantly affected presurgical memory, with patients with impaired EpiTrack performance taking three-four ASMs having poorer scores than patients with intact EpiTrack performance taking three-four ASMs (for all, p < .0001). This interaction also affected postsurgical memory changes, with patients with impaired Epitrack performance taking three-four ASMs having higher postsurgical decline than those with intact Epitrack performance taking three-four ASMs (for all, p< .005). No differences were found in patients taking two ASMs. Furthermore, the number of ASMs was associated with presurgical memory performance and postsurgical memory changes only in patients with impaired EpiTrack performance (for all, p < .05). Our findings underline the utility of EpiTrack, together with the clinical information on the number of prescribed ASMs, to corroborate the impact of polytherapy on memory and to optimize the prediction of postsurgical memory changes.

Multisensory input modulates memory-guided spatial navigation in humans

Efficient navigation is supported by a cognitive map of space. The hippocampus plays a key role for this map by linking multimodal sensory information with spatial memory representations. However, in human navigation studies, the full range of sensory information is often unavailable due to the stationarity of experimental setups. We investigated the contribution of multisensory information to memory-guided spatial navigation by presenting a virtual version of the Morris water maze on a screen and in an immersive mobile virtual reality setup. Patients with hippocampal lesions and matched controls navigated to memorized object locations in relation to surrounding landmarks. Our results show that availability of multisensory input improves memory-guided spatial navigation in both groups. It has distinct effects on navigational behaviour, with greater improvement in spatial memory performance in patients. We conclude that congruent multisensory information shifts computations to extrahippocampal areas that support spatial navigation and compensates for spatial navigation deficits.

Synergistic effect of Tai Chi and transcranial direct current stimulation on memory function in patients with mild cognitive impairment: study protocol for a 2×2 factorial randomised controlled trial

IntroductionInterventions at the mild cognitive impairment (MCI) stage prevent or delay the progression of cognitive decline. In recent years, several studies have shown that physical exercise combined with transcranial direct...

Cross-modal associative memory impairment in schizophrenia

Impaired associative memory function in patients with schizophrenia has received considerable attention. However, previous studies have primarily concentrated on unisensory materials, which limits our understanding of the broader implications of this impairment. In this study, we sought to expand on this knowledge by examining two types of associative memory domains in individuals with schizophrenia, leveraging both visual (Vis) and auditory (Aud) materials. A total of 32 patients with schizophrenia and 29 healthy controls were recruited to participate in the study. Each participant participated in an experiment composed of three paradigms in which different abstract materials (Aud-Aud, Aud-Vis, and Vis-Vis) were presented. Subsequently, the discriminability scores of the two groups were calculated and compared in different modal tasks. Results from the study indicated that individuals with schizophrenia demonstrated varying degrees of associative memory dysfunction in both the same and cross-modalities, with the latter having a significantly lower score than healthy controls (t = 4.120, p < 0.001). Additionally, the cross-modal associative memory function was significantly and negatively correlated with the severity of negative symptoms among individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia (r = −0.362, p = 0.042). This study provides evidence of abnormalities in the processing and memorization of information that integrates multiple sensory modalities in individuals with schizophrenia. This is of great significance for further understanding the cognitive symptoms and pathological mechanisms of schizophrenia, potentially guiding the development of relevant interventions and treatment methods.

Verbal memory depends on structural hippocampal subfield volume.

To investigate correlates in hippocampal subfield volume and verbal and visual memory function in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), mild amnestic cognitive impairment (MCI) and heathy participants (HP). 50 right-handed participants were included in this study; 11 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), 18 patients with mild amnestic cognitive impairment (MCI) and 21 healthy participants (HP). Verbal memory performance was evaluated via the verbal memory test (VLMT) and visual memory performance via the diagnosticum for cerebral damage (DCM). Hippocampal subfield volumes of T1-weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans were computed with FreeSurfer version 7.1. Stepwise correlation analyses were performed between the left hippocampal subfield volumes and learning, free recall, consolidation and recognition performance scores of the VLMT as well as between right hippocampal subfield volumes and visual memory performance. The volume of the left subicular complex was highly correlated to learning performance (β = 0.284; p = 0.042) and free recall performance in the VLMT (β = 0.434; p = 0.001). The volume of the left CA3 subfield showed a significant correlation to the consolidation performance in the VLMT (β = 0.378; p = 0.006) and recognition performance in the VLMT (β = 0.290; p = 0.037). There was no significant correlation identified between the right hippocampal subfields and the visual memory performance. The results of this study show verbal memory correlates with hippocampal subfields and support the role of left subiculum and left CA2/CA3 in verbal memory performance.

Associations between intraindividual reaction time variability and prospective memory performance in patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls

ABSTRACT Introduction: Patients with schizophrenia exhibit prospective memory (PM) impairment. Intraindividual reaction time variability (IIRTV) is an index of attentional control that is required for PM. This study examined the differences in IIRTV between patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls and the relationship between IIRTV and PM performance. Method: Thirty-nine patients with schizophrenia and forty-two healthy controls were recruited to complete a PM task and the Sustained Attention to Response Task. IIRTV was calculated as the coefficient of variation (mean/SD) of reaction time over correctly responded trials in these tasks. Results: Patients with schizophrenia showed lower PM accuracy and increased IIRTV, while the associations between PM accuracy and IIRTV were significant in healthy controls but not in patients with schizophrenia. Conclusion: These findings suggest impaired PM and relationship between PM and attentional control in patients with schizophrenia.

App-based assessment of memory functions in patients after transfemoral aortic valve replacement.

Transfemoral aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is the standard treatment for elderly patients with aortic valve stenosis. Although safe and well-established, there is a risk of intraprocedural hemodynamic instability and silent cerebral embolism, which can lead to a decline in neurocognitive function and dementia. In clinical practice, comprehensive cognitive testing is difficult to perform. AI-assisted digital applications may help to optimize diagnosis and monitoring. Neurocognitive function was assessed by validated psychometric tests using "∆elta -App", which uses artificial intelligence and computational linguistic methods for extraction and analysis. Memory function was assessed using the 'Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease' (CERAD) word list and digit span task (DST) before TAVR and before hospital discharge. The study is registered in the German Register of Clinical Trials (https://drks.de/search/de/trial/DRKS00020813). From October 2020 until March 2022, 141 patients were enrolled at University Hospital Heart Centre Brandenburg. Mean age was 81 ± 6 years, 42.6% were women. Time between the pre- and post-interventional test was on average 6 ± 3 days. Memory function before TAVR was found to be below average in relation to age and educational level. The pre-post TAVR comparison showed significant improvements in the wordlist repeat, P < 0.001 and wordlist recall test of CERAD, P < 0.001. There were no changes in the digital span test. Despite impaired preoperative memory function before TAVR, no global negative effect on memory function after TVAR was detected. The improvements shown in the word list test should be interpreted as usual learning effects in this task.

Effects of a video game intervention on symptoms, training motivation, and visuo-spatial memory in depression.

People with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) often experience reduced affect, mood, and cognitive impairments such as memory problems. Although there are various treatments for MDD, many of them do not address the cognitive deficits associated with the disorder. Playing 3D video games has been found to improve cognitive functioning in healthy people, but it is not clear how they may affect depressed mood and motivation in people with MDD. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a six-week video game intervention leads to improvements in depressed mood, training motivation, and visuo-spatial (working) memory functions in patients with MDD. A total of 46 clinically depressed individuals were randomly assigned to one of three groups: an experimental "3D video gaming" group (n = 14) which played a video game, an active control group (n = 16) which trained with a computer program "CogPack," and a treatment-as-usual group (n = 16) which received a standard clinical treatment including psychotherapy and/or pharmacotherapy. Participants performed a neuropsychological assessment, including self-report questionnaires asking for depressive symptoms, training motivation, and visuo-spatial (working) memory functions before and after the training intervention. Regarding depressive symptoms, a significant decrease in the proportion of participants who showed clinical levels of depressive symptoms as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory was only found in the 3D video gaming group. Additionally, mean motivational levels of performing the training were significantly higher in the 3D video gaming group when compared with the active control group. Moreover, whereas the 3D Video Gaming group only significantly improved on one visuo-spatial memory test, the active control group improved in all visuo-spatial memory functions. The 3D video gaming group did not perform significantly better than the CogPack group, and the TAU group. Besides a standalone cognitive training, the current findings suggest that cognitive trainings using a video game have potential to increase subjective well-being, show higher levels of training motivation, and lead to improvements in visuo-spatial (working) memory functions in MDD. However, given the mixed and unblinded nature of this study, the results should be interpreted with caution. Further research with larger samples and follow-up measurements is needed.

Cognitive dysfunction in drug-naïve late-onset temporal lobe epilepsy

ObjectivesTo evaluate cognitive functions including memory in middle-aged and elderly patients with antiseizure drug-naïve late-onset temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). MethodsWe performed assessments with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-III (WAIS-III) and Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R) in 26 antiseizure drug-naïve patients with late-onset TLE, in comparison to 30 healthy subjects. We investigated the relationships between these cognitive function scores and clinical characteristics, seizure frequency, and frequency of interictal epileptic discharges (IEDs). ResultsPatients with epilepsy had a significantly lower score than healthy controls in the verbal intelligence quotient (IQ), the performance IQ, and full-scale IQ in intelligence testing. Patients showed significantly decrease in the verbal memory scores, visual memory scores, general memory scores, and delayed recall scores compared with those in the control subjects.Delayed recall scores were significantly negatively correlated with recent seizure frequency and the total IEDs count per minute, but not with age of onset or duration of illness. SignificancePatients with antiseizure drug-naïve late-onset TLE displayed cognitive deficits including the domains of memory by using standard clinical neuropsychological test.Patients with late-onset epilepsy need to be considered for cognitive dysfunction at the time of diagnosis of TLE because they may have their daily life and work affected not only by epileptic seizures but also by cognitive deficits. Appearance of seizures and EEG abnormalities may affect the memory function in patients with late-onset TLE.

Effects of benzodiazepine receptor agonists on cognitive function in patients with chronic insomnia

AbstractBackgroundTo investigate the effects of benzodiazepine receptor agonists on cognitive function in patients with chronic insomnia.MethodAccording to the history of taking hypnotic drugs, they were divided into no medication group (n = 62), benzodiazepines group (n = 57) and non‐benzodiazepines group (n = 53); all subjects The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Scale, the Epworth Scale, and the Insomnia Severity Index were used to evaluate their sleep quality, and the Hamilton Anxiety and Depression Scale to evaluate their anxiety and depression. The conversion test, the auditory word learning test was used to evaluate the memory function, and the Stroop color word test and the connection function test were used to evaluate the executive function.ResultCompared with no medication, the non‐benzodiazepine group and the benzodiazepine group had longer sleep time throughout the night (P&lt;0.05), and the non‐benzodiazepine group and the benzodiazepine group. The anxiety and depression scores of the drug group were lower than those of the non‐drug group (P&lt;0.05), and the immediate memory and delayed memory scores of the benzodiazepine group and the non‐drug group were lower than those of the non‐benzodiazepine group (P&lt;0.05). 0.05), the dose and duration of medication in the benzodiazepine group were negatively correlated with immediate memory (P&lt;0.05), and the duration of medication in the benzodiazepine group was negatively correlated with prolonged memory (P&lt;0.05). Regression analysis showed that the immediate memory score of taking benzodiazepines was 2.612 times lower than that of the non‐drug group, and the delayed memory score of taking non‐benzodiazepines was 1.439 times higher Regression analysis showed that the immediate memory score of taking benzodiazepines was 2.612 times lower than that of the non‐drug group, and the delayed memory score of taking non‐benzodiazepines was 1.439 times higher than that of the non‐drug group (P&lt;0.05). The difference is statistically significant.ConclusionBenzodiazepines increase the risk of impaired immediate memory function in patients with chronic insomnia, and non‐benzodiazepines can improve their delayed memory function.

Serum total cholesterol levels associated with immediate memory performance in patients with chronic schizophrenia

Cognitive impairments are common in patients with schizophrenia. Changes in total cholesterol (TC) may be involved in the development of schizophrenia and associated with cognitive function. This study aimed to investigate differences in serum TC level and cognitive function between schizophrenia patients and healthy controls and explore the relationship between serum TC level and cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia. A total of 105 schizophrenia patients and 105 healthy controls were recruited. Results showed that patients with schizophrenia had significantly lower scores on the overall RBANS scale and subscales (i.e., immediate memory, language, attention, and delayed memory) than those of healthy controls. Pearson's correlation analyses showed that in patients with schizophrenia, serum TC levels were positively associated with RBANS subscale scores of immediate memory and language. Furthermore, multivariate regression analyses showed that serum TC level was positively associated with the immediate memory index in patients with schizophrenia. However, no significant association was found between serum TC level and RBANS score in the healthy control group. Our results suggest that elevated serum TC level may be related to improved cognitive function in patients with schizophrenia, especially that of immediate memory.

Bilateral Hippocampal Volume Mediated the Relationship Between Plasma BACE1 Concentration and Memory Function in the Early Stage of Alzheimer's Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study.

β-site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) is a key enzyme in the formation of amyloid-β (Aβ) protein. Increasing evidence suggests that BACE1 concentration is a potential biomarker for Alzheimer's disease (AD). To evaluate the correlations between plasma BACE1 concentration, cognition, and hippocampal volume at different stages of the AD continuum. Plasma BACE1 concentrations were measured in 32 patients with probable dementia due to AD (ADD), 48 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD, and 40 cognitively unimpaired (CU) individuals. Memory function was evaluated using the auditory verbal learning test (AVLT), and voxel-based morphometry was used to analyze bilateral hippocampal volumes. Correlation and mediation analyses were performed to investigate the associations between plasma BACE1 concentration, cognition, and hippocampal atrophy. The MCI and ADD groups exhibited elevated BACE1 concentrations compared with the CU group after adjusting for age, sex, and apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype. Increased BACE1 concentration was found in AD continuum patients who were APOE ɛ4 carriers (p < 0.05). BACE1 concentration was negatively associated with the scores of the subitems of the AVLT and hippocampal volume (p < 0.05, false discovery rate correction) in the MCI group. Moreover, bilateral hippocampal volume mediated the relationship between BACE1 concentration and recognition in the MCI group. BACE1 expression increased in the AD continuum, and bilateral hippocampal volume mediated the effect of BACE1 concentration on memory function in patients with MCI. Research has indicated that the plasma BACE1 concentration might be a biomarker at the early stage of AD.