TY  - JOUR
AU  - Behfar, Qumars
AU  - Richter, Nils
AU  - Kural, Merve
AU  - Clemens, Anne
AU  - Behfar, Stefan Kambiz
AU  - Folkerts, Ann-Kristin
AU  - Fassbender, Ronja
AU  - Kalbe, Elke
AU  - Fink, Gereon R.
AU  - Onur, Oezguer A.
TI  - Improved connectivity and cognition due to cognitive stimulation in Alzheimer’s disease
JO  - Frontiers in aging neuroscience
VL  - 15
SN  - 1663-4365
CY  - Lausanne
PB  - Frontiers Research Foundation
M1  - FZJ-2023-03199
SP  - 1140975
PY  - 2023
AB  - Background: Due to the increasing prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and the limited efficacy of pharmacological treatment, the interest in non-pharmacological interventions, e.g., cognitive stimulation therapy (CST), to improve cognitive dysfunction and the quality of life of AD patients are on a steady rise.Objectives: Here, we examined the efficacy of a CST program specifically conceptualized for AD dementia patients and the neural mechanisms underlying cognitive or behavioral benefits of CST.Methods: Using neuropsychological tests and MRI-based measurements of functional connectivity, we examined the (neuro-) psychological status and network changes at two time points: pre vs. post-stimulation (8 to 12 weeks) in the intervention group (n = 15) who received the CST versus a no-intervention control group (n = 15).Results: After CST, we observed significant improvement in the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), the Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale, cognitive subsection (ADAS-cog), and the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) scores. These cognitive improvements were associated with an up-regulated functional connectivity between the left posterior hippocampus and the trunk of the left postcentral gyrus.Conclusion: Our data indicate that CST seems to induce short-term global cognition and behavior improvements in mild to moderate AD dementia and enhances resting-state functional connectivity in learning- and memory-associated brain regions. These convergent results prove that even in mild to moderate dementia AD, neuroplasticity can be harnessed to alleviate cognitive impairment with CST.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
C6  - 37662551
UR  - <Go to ISI:>//WOS:001059162300001
DO  - DOI:10.3389/fnagi.2023.1140975
UR  - https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1014215
ER  -