Dementia Paid Clinical Trials in Massachusetts

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if mindfulness meditation can improve outcomes in older adults with and without cognitive impairment. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. How does mindfulness impact thinking and memory? 2. How does mindfulness influence brain function and structure? 3. How does mindfulness affect daily function and quality of life? Researchers will compare all outcomes to one other groups. In one group, individuals will participate in a mindfulness class intervention; in the other group, individuals will not engage in any active interventions immediately, but will be placed on a waitlist for the mindfulness intervention. Researchers will compare all outcomes between the groups groups to determine whether the mindfulness interventions leads to greater improvement compared to no intervention (waitlist group). Participants will: * Be randomly assigned to participate in the mindfulness intervention, or no immediate intervention (waitlist) * Complete paper-and-pencil cognitive testing, surveys, computerized tasks, and neuroimaging measures (EEG and MRI) before and after the intervention Outcomes will be assess at baseline, 2 months, 4 months and 6 months. Read Less

The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between cortical hyperexcitability, abnormalities of brain network function, and cognitive dysfunction in human patients with AD and whether administration of the antiepileptic medication levetiracetam (LEV) normalizes these measures and improves cognition. Read Less

The overall goal of the DISCOVERY study is to better understand what factors contribute to changes in cognitive (i.e., thinking and memory) abilities in patients who experienced a stroke. The purpose of the study is to help doctors identify patients at risk for dementia (decline in memory, thinking and other mental abilities that significantly affects daily functioning) after their stroke so that future treatments may be developed to improve outcomes in stroke patients. For this study, a "stroke" is defined as either (1) an acute ischemic stroke (AIS, or blood clot in the brain), (2) an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH, or bleeding in the brain), (3) or an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH, or bleeding around the brain caused by an abnormal bulge in a blood vessel that bursts). The investigators hypothesize that: 1. The size, type and location of the stroke play an important role in recovery of thinking and memory abilities after stroke, and pre-existing indicators of brain health further determine the extent of this recovery. 2. Specific stroke events occurring in individuals with underlying genetic or biological risk factors can cause further declines in brain heath, leading to changes in thinking and memory abilities after stroke. 3. Studying thinking and memory alongside brain imaging and blood samples in patients who have had a stroke allows for earlier identification of declining brain health and development of individualized treatment plans to improve patient outcomes in the future. Read Less

The primary objective of this study is to enroll an observational cohort of approximately 60 patients with PSP over the course of 24 months using a multicenter study design and to follow each of them for 12 months. The secondary objective of this study is to develop a robust solution for multi-modal remote monitoring of motor symptoms and function in PSP that can be applied to other Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) syndromes. Read Less

This study will enroll participants with idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) and healthy controls for the purpose of preparing for a clinical trial of neuroprotective treatments against synucleinopathies. Read Less

The goal of this prospective cohort study is to assess potential differences in sleep biomarkers in older adult patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. To define sleep/circadian biomarkers of delirium (sleep duration, regularity, stability and timing of rhythm) in a prospective observational study. 2. To determine if plasma Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology/inflammatory burden interacts with or moderates the relationship between a sleep/circadian biomarker and post-operative delirium (POD) risk. 3. To determine whether sleep/circadian regulation interacts with the genetic risk of AD to influence POD/cognitive decline. Participants will be asked to: 1. Donate several blood samples both intraoperatively and postoperatively 2. Complete baseline and postoperative neurocognitive assessments 3. Wear an actigraphy data collection watch for the two weeks prior to their surgery Read Less

This is an interventional, sham controlled, double-blind study designed to investigate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of 40 Hz transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS), a form of noninvasive brain stimulation, delivered for 6 weeks once daily in frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patients. Cognition, gamma EEG activity and brain metabolism via FDG-PET will be measured before and after the tACS intervention. Read Less

The goal of this project is to quantify brain fibrin content using 64Cu-FBP8-PET in the brains of subjects ranging from cognitively normal to clinically diagnosed with ADRD to evaluate potential regional differences. Read Less

This project aims to examine the efficacy of remote, caregiver-led tES/brain stimulation intervention targeted to improve memory, mobility, and executive functioning among older adults with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia. Read Less

This study will explore the effect of ECT treatments plus usual care (ECT+UC) in reducing severe agitation in patients with moderate to severe dementia including Alzheimer's Disease, Vascular dementia, Frontotemporal dementia, and Dementia with Lewy Bodies. The study will also determine the tolerability/safety outcomes of ECT+UC. Read Less

OBJECTIVES: The primary study objective is to collect blood from participants with Huntington's Disease in order to validate a CE marked Cytosine, Adenine, Guanine (CAG) assay for use in future studies for Huntington's Disease. The secondary study objective is to create a biorepository that can be used to identify disease associated biomarkers and potential targets with immune and multi-omics profiling. The disease sample collection and analysis will be the foundation for an extensive network of biospecimen access and linked datasets for future translational research. Read Less

The overall goal of the proposed research is to evaluate the use of \[11C\]SY08 as a PET radiotracer for aggregated alpha synuclein (αS) in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD), Multiple system atrophy (MSA), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and healthy controls. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the use of \[11C\]SY08 as a PET radiotracer for αS fibrils in individuals with PD, MSA, DLB and healthy controls. The specific aims of the current study are: 1. To determine brain uptake, distribution, and kinetics of \[11C\]SY08 in healthy individuals. 2. To determine brain uptake, distribution, and kinetics of \[11C\]SY08 in patients with alpha synuclein aggregates in the brain, including PD, DLB and MSA. 3. To determine human dosimetry of \[11C\]SY08 in healthy individuals An intravenous bolus injection of \[11C\]SY08 will be administered per subject for brain PET imaging. Read Less