Cogstate

📢 New insights and implications for those working on M1 drugs: Recent findings from a sample within the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study led by Ying Xia of the Australian CSIRO and Paul Maruff from Cogstate show that loss of cholinergic neurons occur in the asymptomatic or preclinical stage of Alzheimer’s Disease. “Loss of volume in the cholinergic rich areas of the Nucleus Basalis of Meynert occurs in cognitively unimpaired older adults with abnormally high levels of amyloid,” said Maruff. “The rate of this is greater than in adjacent areas of the nucleus basalis that have less cholinergic innervation. Importantly, multivariable modeling indicated that in preclinical AD this loss of cholinergic function was associated more strongly with a decline in attentional functions.” 🔬 These findings provide context for designing studies with compounds promoting acetylcholine neurotransmission and observing any potential AD impacts. 📖 Read the full publication here: https://lnkd.in/egt2FiKM

A recent study has demonstrated that higher blood pressure and arterial stiffness are linked to poorer cognition in adolescents. These results underscore the importance of preventing high blood pressure and arterial stiffening to promote cognitive health in youth. More broadly, the study illustrates the critical role of measuring cognition in children and adolescents to assess brain health and potential treatment effects beyond the primary target. Cogstate's Digital Tests played a key role in this study, highlighting their utility in assessing cognitive function in a variety of populations and indications. 📖 Read the summary here: https://lnkd.in/e4FE3A_v 📊 Check out the original article from 'The PANIC study': https://lnkd.in/eU_WF8V3

The FDA has granted approval of Kisunla (donanemab) for the treatment of people living with early symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease. We send sincere congratulations to Eli Lilly and Company, to the thousands of trial participants, to their caregivers and loved ones, to the dedicated PIs and site staff, to the many many people who are part of making an approval like this possible. This is a momentous day.

Cogstate is honored to be part of the scientific program at #AAIC24! With involvement in 22 presentations, we are eager to contribute and learn from these vital discussions. In particular, we invite you to check out the poster co-authored by Prof. Paul Maruff examining acceptability & validity of Cogstate’s smartphone-administered word list learning test, Lila 📱, and a co-authored featured research session on Learning Deficits in Late Middle-aged APOE ε4 Carriers: Implications for emergent Alzheimer’s disease 🧠 See the full list of Cogstate’s AAIC scientific presentations > https://lnkd.in/e6aytt7f

Cogstate had the pleasure of co-authoring a poster presented at #ADPD24 highlighting learnings from a rater performance monitoring program used in TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2, a Phase 3 Clinical Trial of Donanemab in Early Symptomatic Alzheimer Disease. Rater performance was analyzed across four outcome measures that were part of the study and frequently leveraged in AD clinical trials: ♦️ ADAS-Cog 13 ♦️ ADCS-ADL ♦️ CDR ♦️ MMSE Poster co-author and Cogstate scientist, Dr. Svenja Wacker, shares the FINDINGS in this video 👉 https://lnkd.in/ejBsu4dp

In sleep-related clinical drug development, understanding the relationship between cognition, sedation, and wakefulness is pivotal for safety and efficacy decision making. Gather insights from Cogstate’s CIO, Paul Maruff, describing how cognitive assessments are used to inform decisions about mechanism of action, dosing, length of effect, and consequences on thinking of new therapeutic compounds. Read data and case examples from trials of benzodiazepines, sleep restriction studies, and Lemborexant and the PVT 👉 https://lnkd.in/d2PfhbAY

Cogstate CIO, Paul Maruff, recently presented data at #ADPD2024 showing carriers of APOE e4 can experience very early stage disruptions in acetylcholine neurotransmission. This research highlights the importance of amyloid levels as biomarkers for disease progression and opens the door for considering clinical trial study designs that look to ameliorate loss of cholinergic neurotransmission. “With the understanding of amyloid and how it influences both cognition and symptoms, there's been an opportunity to reconsider how acetylcholine neurotransmission is relevant to those relationships,” said Prof Maruff. “At Cogstate, we've been interested in trying to understand how design of studies would occur to test these hypotheses and in this presentation we outline a broader framework within which that might occur.” Watch the presentation summary 👉 https://lnkd.in/eJkFTtw2

FDA Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend the approval of Donanemab for treating early Alzheimer’s disease, highlighting its effectiveness in slowing cognitive decline as demonstrated in the Phase 3 TRAILBLAZER-ALZ 2 trial. If approved, Donanemab will provide a new disease-modifying treatment option for patients and their families. Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/erxFTKbB 

A recently published study from Monash University’s Healthy Brain Project highlights a crucial link between neighborhood characteristics and an individual's risk of developing dementia. 🌳 Using the Cogstate Brief Battery as one of the measurement tools, researchers found that living closer to green spaces lowers dementia risk and living in areas with lower crime was associated with better memory performance. 🌍 This research highlights the pivotal role of thoughtful urban planning as well as the need for equitable access to healthy environments to improve #BrainHealthForAll. Read the full study by Cavuoto et al here: https://lnkd.in/e5gVnJKR #DementiaPrevention #Cognition #PublicHealth #Cogstate

The British Journal of Hematology recently published David Kuter’s paper, “Cognitive Impairment Among Patients with Chronic Immune Thrombocytopenia,” with data from the Cogstate Brief Battery being used to look at the nature and severity of cognitive impairment in ITP. “The objective evidence of cognitive slowing gathered during this study supports the reports of difficulties in thinking that come from patients with ITP, their families, or their treating doctors,” said paper co-author and Cogstate Chief Innovation Officer, Paul Maruff. “These data also provide a strong foundation for the design of studies aimed at determining how new treatments for ITP, might impact this important clinical symptom.” Read the full paper here > https://lnkd.in/etkxAnTb