Journals
2026 EN
Kinyanjui Elise · Groechel Renee C. · Morrill Valerie
+8 more
Abstract INTRODUCTION Understanding comorbidities’ combined impacts on dementia risk may offer a more comprehensive understanding of individuals’ risk. Using machine‐learning, we grouped individuals with similar midlife risk profiles into clusters and explored associations with dementia risk. METHODS Participants without dementia at baseline (1987–1989) from the prospective Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study were included (ages 45–64 years; N = 15,250). Using unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis, nine clusters were created and defined based on 14 midlife morbidities. The associations with incident dementia ( N = 3272 cases, median follow‐up 25 years) and deaths ( N = 9099) were evaluated using time‐to‐event regression models. RESULTS Compared with the healthiest cluster (Cluster 1), Clusters 2 (smoking) (hazard ratio [HR](95% confidence interval [CI]) = 1.62 (1.08, 2.43)), 5 (obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and hypertriglyceridemia) (HR(95%CI) = 1.91 (1.35,2.70)), and 7/8 (atrial fibrillation/heart failure) (HR(95%CI) = 2.69 (1.59,4.57)) were associated with dementia. Accounting for competing risk of death in the Fine‐Gray subdistribution model negated the cluster‐dementia association. DISCUSSION Midlife morbidity clusters are important for dementia and mortality risk.
Journals
2026 EN
Clarke Antonia J. · Whetung Cliff · SuchyDicey Astrid
+20 more
Abstract Indigenous communities hold rich knowledges, cultural practices, and kinship networks that sustain cognitive resilience and nurture brain health across the life course. Yet these enduring strengths are often obscured by biomedical models that overlook the structural determinants of health—including the cumulative effects of colonization, educational inequity, and socioeconomic disadvantage—that diminish brain health. Accordingly, dementia disproportionately affects Indigenous populations globally, often presenting with earlier onset and higher prevalence compared to non‐Indigenous groups. This perspective synthesizes the current epidemiological evidence, situates dementia risk within its structural and historical context, and explores how Indigenous knowledges, cultural continuity, and community leadership can inform dementia research and care more broadly. Our global insights call for a decisive shift: to decolonize dementia research and policy and move beyond deficit‐based narratives toward approaches that prioritize Indigenous leadership and culturally grounded, strengths‐based pathways to brain health equity. Highlights This perspective synthesizes global evidence on dementia epidemiology among Indigenous populations, examining structural determinants and Indigenous perspectives on brain health and dementia care. Structural inequities and the enduring legacies of colonization, rather than biology alone, underpin the disproportionate dementia burden among Indigenous peoples worldwide. Centering culture, kinship, and connection to land and community reframes brain health beyond biomedical models and reveals cultural resilience as a powerful neuroprotective resource. Key recommendations call for Indigenous leadership and locally tailored, culturally grounded approaches to advance lifelong brain health equity and develop strengths‐based models of dementia care.
Journals
2026 EN
Perry Kelly E. · Merenstein Jenna
Abstract The convergence of climate change, adverse environmental exposures, and rapid population aging necessitates an equity‐based paradigm shift in safeguarding brain health across the life course. Older adults, especially those in marginalized and low‐resource settings, face disproportionate exposure to air pollution, toxicants, and climate‐related hazards. Emerging evidence links these biophysical, social, and cultural vulnerabilities to cognitive decline and a heightened risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs), underscoring the need to examine cumulative exposures across the life course. Exposome‐informed research integrating magnetic resonance imaging biomarkers with socioenvironmental contexts remains limited in underrepresented populations but offers opportunities to detect subclinical markers of environmental harm and illuminate mechanistic pathways of ADRDs. Thus, future studies must adopt equity‐centered approaches, inclusive recruitment, and community‐driven interventions to address systemic inequities and cumulative exposures. Embedding environmental justice within neuroscience will advance preventative public health policies that mitigate inequities and protect brain health during climate change. Highlights Marginalized communities remain underrepresented in brain health/ Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRDs) research. Toxic environmental exposures worsen inequities in brain health across the life course. Exposome‐informed neuroimaging may detect early neural markers of cognitive decline. Future equity‐centered exposome/neuroimaging work will inform brain health policy. Need for life course interventions to mitigate environmental risk factors of ADRDs.
Journals
2026 EN
Tee Boon Lead · SpatLemus Jessica · Zhang Spencer Xinyi
+8 more
Abstract The Examining Normative Heterogeneity of Aging and Neurodegeneration in Chinese Elders (ENHANCE) project addresses gaps in Alzheimer's disease and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) research by prioritizing Chinese‐speaking communities—an underrepresented but rapidly growing population in the United States (US) and globally. ENHANCE uses a transadaptation approach to develop cognitive assessments that reflect the language and culture of Cantonese and Mandarin speakers, making tools more relevant and appropriate. The project brings together data from older Chinese American participants at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), guided by community input and pilot testing results of research instruments. By combining data from ISMMS, UCSF, and the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC), ENHANCE explores meaningful cross‐cultural differences in AD/ADRD risk and progression. The goal is to improve diagnostic accuracy and representation in AD/ADRD research. ENHANCE helps make AD/ADRD research more responsive to language and cultural backgrounds in the older Chinese American community, supporting the goal of precision medicine in diverse population.
Journals
2026 EN
Riley Elizabeth · Wager Genevieve · Rahman Samantha
+2 more
Abstract INTRODUCTION The locus coeruleus (LC) undergoes age‐related changes and is involved in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) may modulate LC activity and could be used therapeutically, but age‐related differences in VNS responses remain unexplored. METHODS We used a single‐blind, sham‐controlled, crossover design in 41 participants (21 younger, 20 older adults). Participants completed a visual oddball task with pupillometry during transcutaneous auricular VNS (verum: cymba concha; sham: earlobe) with ≈ 30 minutes of washout between conditions. RESULTS Older adults showed smaller baseline pupil diameter but larger normalized task‐evoked responses than younger adults a priori. VNS produced age‐specific effects: older adults demonstrated increased tonic pupil size throughout stimulation and reduced oddball‐evoked responses, with stronger effects with more current. Younger adults showed no consistent VNS effects. DISCUSSION VNS affects LC‐related physiological measures differently across age groups, with older adults showing more robust responses. These age‐specific effects may reflect different baseline LC activity states.
Journals
2026 EN
Cicero Ethan C. · Flatt Jace D. · Kaabi Oumaima
+9 more
Abstract INTRODUCTION We investigated whether Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD) are more common among transfeminine (TF) adults than among demographically similar cisgender people enrolled in the same health system. METHODS We analyzed electronic health records of 856 TF adults aged 65+ and matched cisgender men (CM) and cisgender women (CW) and compared ADRD prevalence across groups by calculating enrollment‐adjusted odds ratios (aOR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS The aOR of ADRD among TF adults were 1.39 (95% CI: 0.99–1.97) relative to CM and 1.29 (95% CI: 0.92–1.82) relative to CW referents. For TF adults with evidence of receiving gender‐affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) receipt, the associations were slightly stronger: 1.75 (1.13–2.69) and 1.70 (1.11–2.60). Results restricted to minoritized ethnoracial groups appeared smaller, but imprecise. DISCUSSION These findings suggest that ADRD diagnosis and management may represent a priority in the healthcare of older TF people, particularly those with a history of GAHT.
Journals
2026 EN
Have Adam · Littig Lauren · ClocchiattiTuozzo Santiago
+13 more
Objective To evaluate whether white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and apolipoprotein E ( APOE) ε4 status have an additive or multiplicative effect on the risk of incident all‐cause dementia. Methods We conducted a prospective cohort study in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study and confirmed findings in the UK Biobank (UKB). The exposures were APOE ε4 status (0 vs. ≥1 allele) and WMH on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The primary outcome was incident all‐cause dementia. After confirming an additive interaction, we created combined exposure groups: WMH−/ε4−, WMH+/ε4−, WMH−/ε4+, and WMH+/ε4+. Cox proportional hazards models were adjusted for age, sex, race, education, cognition (ARIC only), hypertension, diabetes, and prior stroke. Results In ARIC (n = 1,736, mean age 63, 58.8% female, 48.7% non‐Hispanic White individuals, median follow‐up 18.6 years), the dementia incidence rate was 10.4 (95% CI, 9.2–11.6) per 1,000 person‐years. Compared to WMH−/ε4–, adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) for dementia were: WMH− / ε4+, 1.5 (95% CI, 1.1–2.1); WMH+/ε4–, 2.0 (95% CI, 1.4–2.7); and WMH+ / ε4 + , 3.2 (95% CI, 2.2–4.6). In UKB (n = 40,307, mean age 55, 52.7% female, 97.1% non‐Hispanic White individuals, median follow‐up 3.2 years), the dementia incidence rate was 0.42 (95% CI, 0.32–0.55) per 1,000 person‐years. Adjusted HRs were: WMH− / ε4+, 2.3 (95% CI, 1.2–4.5); WMH+/ε4–, 2.1 (95% CI, 1.0–4.6); and WMH+ / ε4 + , 6.7 (95% CI, 3.2–13.9). Interpretation WMH burden and APOE ε4 status additively increase dementia risk. These findings support the potential benefit of vascular risk management to reduce WMH and delay dementia onset, even among genetically at‐risk individuals. ANN NEUROL 2026;99:656–667
Journals
2026 EN
MascareñasGarcía Marta · RiverodeAguilar Alejandro · CandalPedreira Cristina
+8 more
Objective Spin refers to reporting strategies that highlight the benefits of an experimental treatment or divert attention from nonsignificant primary outcomes. We aimed to assess spin in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on pharmaceutical efficacy in multiple sclerosis (MS) and explore associated factors. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted in MedLine (PubMed), EMBASE, and Cochrane using database‐specific thesauri (“Multiple Sclerosis” and “Drug Therapy”) to identify relevant studies. We included multiple sclerosis phase 3 and 4 randomized controlled trials with parallel, superiority designs that were published between 2013 and 2024 reporting nonsignificant primary outcomes. Spin was assessed in title, abstract conclusion, results, discussion, and conclusions. A descriptive analysis was followed by exploratory bivariate logistic regression. Independent variables included trial phase, sample size, drug type, comparison, follow‐up time, registration, Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) mention, risk of bias (RoB2), journal quartile, first author affiliation, and conflict of interest. Results Forty articles met inclusion criteria. Spin appeared in at least one section in 25 articles (62.5%) and in 3 or more in 19 articles (47.5%). The most frequent locations were abstract conclusions, discussion, and conclusions. Spin was significantly associated with smaller sample size (odds ratio [OR] = 7.00, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.29–37.91, p = 0.024), non‐Q1 journals (OR = 4.38, 95% CI = 1.03–18.63, p = 0.046), and first author affiliation outside Europe or the United States (OR = 5.09, 95% CI = 1.15–22.62, p = 0.032). Interpretation Spin is common in MS randomized controlled trials with nonsignificant primary outcomes and may mislead clinical decisions. ANN NEUROL 2026;99:316–327
Journals
2026 EN
Yang Shunshun · Shan Yingshuang · Zhou Tianyuan
+3 more
ABSTRACT Chromium‐doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Cr 4+ : YAG) transparent ceramics (TCs) have significant applications in 1 µm passively Q‐switched (PQS) lasers. The issues of low conversion rate of Cr 4+ ions and the impact of different Cr doping concentrations on the PQS lasers are key problems that need to be resolved. In this paper, the energy band structures and optical absorption spectra of Cr: YAG were calculated by first principles. The different doping concentrations of Cr 4+ : YAG TCs were fabricated by the solid‐state reaction, and their output properties of PQS lasers were investigated. It is surprising that the pulse energy reached 0.52 µJ for 0.1 at.% Cr 4+ :YAG TC, which was a 3‐fold increase from that of the 0.05 at.% Cr 4+ :YAG TC (0.15 µJ). Besides, the peak power of 0.1 at.% Cr 4+ :YAG TC was 1.25 W, which was about 5 times higher than that of the 0.05 at.% Cr 4+ :YAG TC (0.26 W). Furthermore, the pulse width of the 0.1 at.% Cr 4+ :YAG TC was 417 ns, which was smaller than that of the corresponding 0.05 at.% Cr 4+ :YAG TC. These results show that the Cr 4+ : YAG TC with superior nonlinear absorption, offering a valuable reference for future research on the nonlinear optical properties of Cr 4+ : YAG TC.
Journals
2026 EN
Kineweskwêw Catherine Richardson · Kinman Christopher Iwestel
ABSTRACT Living as if we all mattered in a society that does the opposite is an act of resistance. It builds resilience within communities, bringing gifts of relationality. Cathy and Chris are human service workers who aim to transcend the binary of practitioner/patient. Through dignity‐centred practice, they engage in the co‐construction of a refuge outside petro‐capitalism. To centre dignity is to decentre trauma and honour resistance against empire, which seeks to divide and distract. Resistance is a natural response that promotes survival. Their sharings however, drawn from Indigenous knowledge as well as learnings from ecology, extend beyond this sphere. They can also be applied to social justice in learning how to be a good relative and ancestor. Red Elk (2025) tells us that ‘forging healthy relations is essential for the success of future generations’. This includes not only human relations but also all life with whom we share the Earth. By living as if we all matter, we can undermine the forces of empire while building a better world.