Browsing by Author "Roberts, Kenneth C"

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    Cross-modal stimulus conflict: the behavioral effects of stimulus input timing in a visual-auditory Stroop task.
    (PLoS One, 2013) Donohue, Sarah E; Appelbaum, Lawrence G; Park, Christina J; Roberts, Kenneth C; Woldorff, Marty G
    Cross-modal processing depends strongly on the compatibility between different sensory inputs, the relative timing of their arrival to brain processing components, and on how attention is allocated. In this behavioral study, we employed a cross-modal audio-visual Stroop task in which we manipulated the within-trial stimulus-onset-asynchronies (SOAs) of the stimulus-component inputs, the grouping of the SOAs (blocked vs. random), the attended modality (auditory or visual), and the congruency of the Stroop color-word stimuli (congruent, incongruent, neutral) to assess how these factors interact within a multisensory context. One main result was that visual distractors produced larger incongruency effects on auditory targets than vice versa. Moreover, as revealed by both overall shorter response times (RTs) and relative shifts in the psychometric incongruency-effect functions, visual-information processing was faster and produced stronger and longer-lasting incongruency effects than did auditory. When attending to either modality, stimulus incongruency from the other modality interacted with SOA, yielding larger effects when the irrelevant distractor occurred prior to the attended target, but no interaction with SOA grouping. Finally, relative to neutral-stimuli, and across the wide range of the SOAs employed, congruency led to substantially more behavioral facilitation than did incongruency to interference, in contrast to findings that within-modality stimulus-compatibility effects tend to be more evenly split between facilitation and interference. In sum, the present findings reveal several key characteristics of how we process the stimulus compatibility of cross-modal sensory inputs, reflecting stimulus processing patterns that are critical for successfully navigating our complex multisensory world.
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    Intraoperative Frontal Alpha-Band Power Correlates with Preoperative Neurocognitive Function in Older Adults.
    (Front Syst Neurosci, 2017) Giattino, Charles M; Gardner, Jacob E; Sbahi, Faris M; Roberts, Kenneth C; Cooter, Mary; Moretti, Eugene; Browndyke, Jeffrey N; Mathew, Joseph P; Woldorff, Marty G; Berger, Miles; MADCO-PC Investigators
    Each year over 16 million older Americans undergo general anesthesia for surgery, and up to 40% develop postoperative delirium and/or cognitive dysfunction (POCD). Delirium and POCD are each associated with decreased quality of life, early retirement, increased 1-year mortality, and long-term cognitive decline. Multiple investigators have thus suggested that anesthesia and surgery place severe stress on the aging brain, and that patients with less ability to withstand this stress will be at increased risk for developing postoperative delirium and POCD. Delirium and POCD risk are increased in patients with lower preoperative cognitive function, yet preoperative cognitive function is not routinely assessed, and no intraoperative physiological predictors have been found that correlate with lower preoperative cognitive function. Since general anesthesia causes alpha-band (8-12 Hz) electroencephalogram (EEG) power to decrease occipitally and increase frontally (known as "anteriorization"), and anesthetic-induced frontal alpha power is reduced in older adults, we hypothesized that lower intraoperative frontal alpha power might correlate with lower preoperative cognitive function. Here, we provide evidence that such a correlation exists, suggesting that lower intraoperative frontal alpha power could be used as a physiological marker to identify older adults with lower preoperative cognitive function. Lower intraoperative frontal alpha power could thus be used to target these at-risk patients for possible therapeutic interventions to help prevent postoperative delirium and POCD, or for increased postoperative monitoring and follow-up. More generally, these results suggest that understanding interindividual differences in how the brain responds to anesthetic drugs can be used as a probe of neurocognitive function (and dysfunction), and might be a useful measure of neurocognitive function in older adults.
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    The INTUIT Study: Investigating Neuroinflammation Underlying Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction.
    (Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2019-01-23) Berger, Miles; Oyeyemi, Deborah; Olurinde, Mobolaji O; Whitson, Heather E; Weinhold, Kent J; Woldorff, Marty G; Lipsitz, Lewis A; Moretti, Eugene; Giattino, Charles M; Roberts, Kenneth C; Zhou, Junhong; Bunning, Thomas; Ferrandino, Michael; Scheri, Randall P; Cooter, Mary; Chan, Cliburn; Cabeza, Roberto; Browndyke, Jeffrey N; Murdoch, David M; Devinney, Michael J; Shaw, Leslie M; Cohen, Harvey Jay; Mathew, Joseph P; INTUIT Investigators
    BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:Every year, up to 40% of the more than 16 million older Americans who undergo anesthesia/surgery develop postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) or delirium. Each of these distinct syndromes is associated with decreased quality of life, increased mortality, and a possible increased risk of Alzheimer's disease. One pathologic process hypothesized to underlie both delirium and POCD is neuroinflammation. The INTUIT study described here will determine the extent to which postoperative increases in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP-1) levels and monocyte numbers are associated with delirium and/or POCD and their underlying brain connectivity changes. DESIGN:Observational prospective cohort. SETTING:Duke University Medical Center, Duke Regional Hospital, and Duke Raleigh Hospital. PARTICIPANTS:Patients 60 years of age or older (N = 200) undergoing noncardiac/nonneurologic surgery. MEASUREMENTS:Participants will undergo cognitive testing before, 6 weeks, and 1 year after surgery. Delirium screening will be performed on postoperative days 1 to 5. Blood and CSF samples are obtained before surgery, and 24 hours, 6 weeks, and 1 year after surgery. CSF MCP-1 levels are measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and CSF monocytes are assessed by flow cytometry. Half the patients will also undergo pre- and postoperative functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. 32-channel intraoperative electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings will be performed to identify intraoperative EEG correlates of neuroinflammation and/or postoperative cognitive resilience. Eighty patients will also undergo home sleep apnea testing to determine the relationships between sleep apnea severity, neuroinflammation, and impaired postoperative cognition. Additional assessments will help evaluate relationships between delirium, POCD, and other geriatric syndromes. CONCLUSION:INTUIT will use a transdisciplinary approach to study the role of neuroinflammation in postoperative delirium and cognitive dysfunction and their associated functional brain connectivity changes, and it may identify novel targets for treating and/or preventing delirium and POCD and their sequelae.
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    The MARBLE Study Protocol: Modulating ApoE Signaling to Reduce Brain Inflammation, DeLirium, and PostopErative Cognitive Dysfunction.
    (Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2020-01) VanDusen, Keith W; Eleswarpu, Sarada; Moretti, Eugene W; Devinney, Michael J; Crabtree, Donna M; Laskowitz, Daniel T; Woldorff, Marty G; Roberts, Kenneth C; Whittle, John; Browndyke, Jeffrey N; Cooter, Mary; Rockhold, Frank W; Anakwenze, Oke; Bolognesi, Michael P; Easley, Mark E; Ferrandino, Michael N; Jiranek, William A; Berger, Miles; MARBLE Study Investigators
    BACKGROUND:Perioperative neurocognitive disorders (PND) are common complications in older adults associated with increased 1-year mortality and long-term cognitive decline. One risk factor for worsened long-term postoperative cognitive trajectory is the Alzheimer's disease (AD) genetic risk factor APOE4. APOE4 is thought to elevate AD risk partly by increasing neuroinflammation, which is also a theorized mechanism for PND. Yet, it is unclear whether modulating apoE4 protein signaling in older surgical patients would reduce PND risk or severity. OBJECTIVE:MARBLE is a randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled phase II sequential dose escalation trial designed to evaluate perioperative administration of an apoE mimetic peptide drug, CN-105, in older adults (age≥60 years). The primary aim is evaluating the safety of CN-105 administration, as measured by adverse event rates in CN-105 versus placebo-treated patients. Secondary aims include assessing perioperative CN-105 administration feasibility and its efficacy for reducing postoperative neuroinflammation and PND severity. METHODS:201 patients undergoing non-cardiac, non-neurological surgery will be randomized to control or CN-105 treatment groups and receive placebo or drug before and every six hours after surgery, for up to three days after surgery. Chart reviews, pre- and postoperative cognitive testing, delirium screening, and blood and CSF analyses will be performed to examine effects of CN-105 on perioperative adverse event rates, cognition, and neuroinflammation. Trial results will be disseminated by presentations at conferences and peer-reviewed publications. CONCLUSION:MARBLE is a transdisciplinary study designed to measure CN-105 safety and efficacy for preventing PND in older adults and to provide insight into the pathogenesis of these geriatric syndromes.