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IRB No. 19-214-1 (Dr. David Steffens, PI): Apathy and Reward Systems in Alzheimer's Disease

Apathy is a common feature of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that is related to functional decline, but its underlying neurobiology is poorly understood. In this application, we propose to use functional magnetic imaging and tasks that focus on the brain's reward system to examine apathy in AD and in late-life depression. Our aim is to identify new targets for intervention to improve apathy in patients with AD.

IRB No. 20-122-1 (Dr. Lihong Wang, PI): A Neural Study of the Maturational Shift in Emotion Regulation in Healthy Aging and Depression

This study will focus on examining the impacts of age and depression history on emotion regulation, both behaviorally and neurally. Maladaptive emotion regulation in older subjects with a history of depression is a risk for depression relapse. Confirming the failure in the normal adult maturational shift in emotion regulation in remitted depressed patients and identifying neural mechanisms supporting emotion regulation strategies used in remitted depressed subjects will inform the future development of novel prevention or treatment interventions.

IRB No. 21-046-2 (Dr. Kevin Manning, PI): Cognitive Remediation of Cognitive Control in Late-Life Depression

This research is being completed because depressed older adults commonly experience difficulties with concentration and processing speed, also called executive dysfunction, as well as negative affect/emotions (e.g., low mood, irritability, worry). Older adults with depression and executive dysfunction and/or negative affect/emotions regularly fail to get better with conventional antidepressant medications. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to use an established non-invasive treatment (computerized brain-training) that may improve cognitive and depression related outcomes in older adults. There are two aims of the current study. We are interested in whether a computerized braintraining treatment will improve thinking and depression in older depressed adults. We are also interested in whether participating in the treatment will result in changes to brain activity measured with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

IRB No. 23-089-2 (Dr. Cutter Lindbergh, PI): Computerized Cognitive Remediation of Long COVID Symptoms in Older Adults

Evidence is mounting that a significant minority of patients who develop coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), especially older adults, show lingering neuropsychiatric symptoms including cognitive impairment, brain fog, and depression. These neuropsychiatric symptoms -- which are commonly referred to under the umbrella term "Long COVID" -- are debilitating and may last for months or even years after viral infection. There is a severe lack of evidence-based treatments. The purpose of the present study is to help address this public health crisis by determining whether computerized "brain-training" treatment has potential for improving thinking, mood, and other aspects of day-to-day functioning in older adults with Long COVID. There are two main aims of the present study. The first aim is to simply determine the "feasibility" of using brain-training treatment in older adults with Long COVID. This includes examining whether Long COVID patients are willing to engage in the treatment and whether they find the treatment acceptable and credible. The second aim is to gather preliminary data on whether the brain-training treatment appears to improve memory, thinking, mood, and other aspects of daily functioning in older adults with Long COVID.