Degree Date

7-2023

Document Type

Dissertation - Public Access

Degree Name

Psy.D. Doctor of Clinical Psychology

Academic Discipline

Clinical Psychology - Florida School of Professional Psychology

First Advisor

Elizabeth Lane, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Kathie Bates, Ph.D.

Abstract

The present study investigated how performance on in-person and electronic neuropsychological assessment measures predicted subcortical hippocampal volume and cognitive decline consistent with mild cognitive impairment. It was hypothesized that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment would display better predictive strength than the Cogstate Brief Battery when evaluating subcortical hippocampal volume measured via structural magnetic resonance imaging. It was further hypothesized that the Montreal Cognitive Assessment would be more sensitive to predicting group membership to the diagnostic classification of mild cognitive impairment compared to the Cogstate Brief Battery. The sample included 445 older adult participants selected from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative 3. Participants met criteria for diagnostic classifications of cognitively normal and mild cognitive impairment and had undergone neuropsychological testing consisting of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Cogstate Brief Battery, as well as structural magnetic resonance imaging scans of the hippocampus at baseline testing. The learning/working memory composite from the Cogstate Brief Battery was the only substantial predictor for total subcortical hippocampal volume. When evaluating predictive strength relative to group membership of either cognitively normal or mild cognitive impairment, the Montreal Cognitive Assessment was the most substantial predictor of diagnostic classification, specifically mild cognitive impairment. The learning/working memory composite from the Cogstate Brief Battery was also a good predictor of group membership, though the Montreal Cognitive Assessment was observed to be more sensitive overall. The results of this study maintained the effectiveness of in-person neuropsychological assessment, while also supporting the use of electronic measures with older adults when evaluating cognitive status. The data also contributes additional information that is helpful in the early detection of progressive neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Comments

Data collection and sharing for this project was funded by the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) (National Institutes of Health Grant U01 AG024904) andDOD ADNI (Department of Defense award number W81XWH-12-2-0012). ADNI is funded by the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, and through generous contributions from the following: AbbVie, Alzheimer’s Associatiosn; Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation; Araclon Biotech; BioClinica, Inc.; Biogen; BristolMyers Squibb Company; CereSpir, Inc.; Cogstate; Eisai Inc.; Elan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Eli Lilly and Company; EuroImmun; F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd and its affiliated company Genentech, Inc.; Fujirebio; GE Healthcare; IXICO Ltd.; Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy Research & Development, LLC.; Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development LLC.; Lumosity; Lundbeck; Merck & Co., Inc.; Meso Scale Diagnostics, LLC.; NeuroRx Research; Neurotrack Technologies; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Pfizer Inc.; Piramal Imaging; Servier; Takeda Pharmaceutical Company; and Transition Therapeutics. The Canadian Institutes of Health Research is providing funds to support ADNI clinical sites in Canada. Private sector contributions are facilitated by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (www.fnih.org). The grantee organization is the Northern California Institute for Research and Education, and the study is coordinated by the Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute at the University of Southern California. ADNI data are disseminated by the Laboratory for Neuro Imaging at the University of Southern California.

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