Cognitive and neuropsychiatric profiles of amyloid burden and cerebrovascular disease in elderly with mild cognitive impairment.

Collaboration with National University Health System Singapore.

The overall objective of the project is to examine in a combined cohort consisting MCI patients with amyloid PET using C11 PIB, the association of amyloid burden severity with brain structural abnormalities, cognitive function and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Specific research objectives are as below:

1. Compare imaging features between MCI positive and MCI negative subjects at baseline including
   • Hippocampal subfield volume;
   • Cortical thickness;
   • Follow-up study/question: Are these imaging markers (particularly those that significantly differ between both MCI subgroups) associated with increased conversion from MCI to AD over time?
   • Irrespective of amyloid positivity, how do MCI stable and MCI converters differ in terms of their regional amyloid distribution?
2. Amyloid and cognitive profile
   • Association between amyloid burden (whole brain and region-specific) and cognitive performance (global and domain-specific);
   • Does baseline amyloid burden predict conversion from MCI to AD?
3. Amyloid and neuropsychiatric disorders
   • Association between region-specific amyloid burden and neuropsychiatric symptoms/syndromes.