11 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The purpose of this research is to better understand brain white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in women with migraines
Background: A stroke occurs when not enough blood reaches the brain. Sometimes stroke causes changes in certain brain matter. This is called white matter hyperintensity (WMH) and can lead to mental decline. But not all WMH is caused by stroke. Not all people with WMH experience mental decline. Researchers want to learn more about WMH. They want to see if it is related to disruptions in the blood-brain barrier. Objective: To better understand the how blood-brain barrier disruption is related to white matter hyperintensities. Eligibility: Adults at least 18 years old who have been admitted to a study site with stroke-like symptoms Design: Participants will be screened with an MRI scan and cognitive tests. Participants will have 11 visits over 6 years. Each visit will be 3-4 hours. At each visit, participants will: Update their medical history Have a thin plastic tube (catheter) inserted into an arm vein by needle Have an MRI. The scanner is a metal cylinder in a strong magnetic field. Participants will lie on a table that slides in and out of the cylinder. Participants will be in the scanner about 60 minutes, lying still for up to 20 minutes at a time. They will get earmuffs for loud sounds. Have a dye injected through the catheter during the MRI Have tests of movement, language, and cognition Some participants will have an extra visit for an MRI in a stronger scanner (7T MRI). Participation for some participants will be authorized by their legal representative.
The primary purpose of this study is to assess whether hyperbaric oxygen treatment improves neurological function in patients who exhibit white matter hyperintensities on MRI examination. The secondary goal of this study is to determine if it is possible using MRI to discern a difference in perfusion of central nervous system tissue in regions of white matter hyperintensities after hyperbaric oxygen administration as compared to hyperbaric air.
The purpose of this study is to develop a new grading scale and utilize automated segmentation for measurement of White Matter Hyperintensity (WMH) volume using a low field MRI.
This study examines the factors that may drive the relationship between vascular disease and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) in a large, longitudinal, multi-ethnic community-based cohort study of older adults in northern Manhattan, New York. In past research, the investigators demonstrated that accumulation of brain vascular disease is associated with risk for development of AD. The study now extends the research to examine how brain vascular disease and AD interact. In this pilot study, the investigators will obtain positron emission tomography (PET) scans to measure amyloid (one of the protein pathological markers of AD) from participants in an ongoing community-based study of aging and dementia (WHICAP). The study will include subjects who are already enrolled in the parent project. Further, this study will enroll both subjects who have never been evaluated with PET scans and those who received a previous baseline PET scan. The study plans to obtain approximately 30 repeat amyloid PET scans and 20 baseline PET scans. The investigators will also conduct transcranial Doppler studies to measure blood flow in the participants with amyloid PET scans. The potential benefits to society should be considerable if this study reveals new information about risk factors for or contributions to AD.
The purpose of this study is to extend our previous work, in which we demonstrated an increase in the internal and cross network connectivity of resting state neural networks in patients with cerebral small vessel disease by treatment with hyperbaric oxygen, to at least 20 more individuals.
Cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) can lead to vascular cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID). The hallmark of CSVD is the appearance and progression of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) on MRI. The goal of this study it to recruit and follow individuals at risk for WMH progression and use serial MRI scanning to gain insights into the pathogenesis of CSVD.
The general population is aging, today 12% of the United States population is older than 65 and it is estimated that by 2020 the number of people in the United States older than 65 will outnumber children younger than 5. As the general population ages, the spinal cord injury (SCI) population is also aging and it is estimated that 14% is older than 60. Although persons with SCI are living longer, life expectancy remains below that of the general population with cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases accounting for more than 25% of all deaths since 1995. Similar to findings in the general population, BP dysregulation may impact cognitive function, and investigators reported poorer performance on tasks of memory and attention processing in hypotensive individuals with SCI compared to a normotensive SCI cohort. Thus, it is imperative that investigators work to minimize the impact of cognitive deficits on these aspects of life quality in persons with SCI as they age. Therefore the goals of this study are: Study 1) to compare cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and cognitive function and fMRI between older individuals with SCI (50-75 years) and older age-matched controls and Study 2) to determine 3-5 year longitudinal changes in cardiovascular, cerebrovascular and cognitive function and fMRI in relatively young individuals with SCI (28-54 years) compared to relatively young age-matched controls.
The overall goal of observational study is to examine the age-related and habitual exercise training status-related differences in structural and functional changes in the human brain, detected by magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.
Cerebral vasodilator responses to CO2 will be measured in young healthy adults, healthy sedentary older adults, and healthy exercise trained older adults. This variable will be examined before and after administering the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin, which has been shown to blunt cerebral vasodilator responses. In addition, the investigators will examine these counter-regulatory hemodynamic mechanisms to hypoperfusion caused by indomethacin.
As the spinal cord injured population ages, these individuals are being exposed to an increased prevalence of age-associated diseases, which coupled with the secondary complications of the injury may contribute to the reduced life expectancies. Decentralized autonomic regulation in persons with SCI results in a multitude of cardiovascular changes, which may contribute to accelerated aging. Adverse cardiovascular changes may have deleterious effects on cerebral blood flow dynamics and an increase in cerebral vascular resistance index in individuals with SCI during cognitive testing. Deficits in memory and processing speed in individuals with SCI may relate to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular dysfunction. Identifying the associations between healthy aging versus premature or accelerated aging in organ system function in the SCI population is an important first step towards prevention and amelioration of these changes. Therefore the study objectives are to compare, among individuals with SCI, age-matched non-SCI and older non-SCI individuals arterial stiffness and cerebral vascular resistance index; memory, processing speed, and executive function; and volume of white matter hyperintensities. 60 individuals with SCI, 30 age-matched non-SCI controls, and 20 older non-SCI controls will be recruited for this study. All potential subjects will undergo a two-part screening process which consists of an initial screening via telephone and a detailed, in-person screening. Eligible subjects will be invited to participate in a 4 hour laboratory visit during which their arterial stiffness, blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate and, blood flow to the brain will be monitored at rest and during a comprehensive series of cognitive tests. A subset of the participants will be asked to take part in an MRI brain imaging session: 40 persons with SCI, 10 age-matched non-SCI and 10 older non-SCI. Eligible subjects will be asked to participate in a 1 hour MRI/functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI) session. We hypothesize that arterial stiffness and cerebral vascular resistance index will be increased in the SCI group compared to the age-matched non-SCI but will be comparable to the older non-SCI groups. In addition, we hypothesize that the prevalence of mild to moderate cognitive impairments in memory, processing speed, and executive function will be increased in the SCI individuals compared to the age-matched non-SCI but will be comparable to the older non-SCI individuals.