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Modularity is a well-established concept for assessing community structures in various single and multi-layer networks, including those in biological and social domains. Brain networks are known to exhibit community structure at a variety of scales—local, meso, and global scale. However, modularity, while useful in describing mesoscale brain organization, is limited as a metric to a global scale describing the overall strength of community structure. This approach, while valuable, overlooks important variations in community structure at node level. To address this limitation, we extended modularity to individual nodes. This novel measure of nodal modularity ( nQ ) captures both mesoscale and local-scale changes in modularity. We hypothesized that nQ would illuminate granular changes in the brain due to diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which are known to disrupt the brain’s modular structure. We explored nQ in multiplex networks of a visual short-term memory binding task in fMRI and DTI data in the early stages of AD. While limited by sample size, changes in nQ for individual regions of interest (ROIs) in our fMRI networks were predominantly observed in visual, limbic, and paralimbic systems in the brain, aligning with known AD trajectories and linked to amyloid- β and tau deposition. Furthermore, observed changes in white-matter microstructure in our DTI networks in parietal and frontal regions may compliment studies of white-matter integrity in poor memory binders. Additionally, nQ clearly differentiated MCI from MCI converters indicating that nQ may be sensitive to this key turning point of AD. Our findings demonstrate the utility of nQ as a measure of localized group structure, providing novel insights into task and disease-related variability at the node level. Given the widespread application of modularity as a global measure, nQ represents a significant advancement, providing a granular measure of network organization applicable to a wide range of disciplines.

Background The individual and complementary value of the Visual Short-Term Memory Binding Test (VSTMBT) and the Free and Cued Selective Reminding Test (FCSRT) as markers to trace the AD continuum was investigated. It was hypothesised that the VSTMBT would be an early indicator while the FCSRT would inform on imminent progression. Methods Healthy older adults ( n =70) and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) ( n =80) were recruited and followed up between 2012 and 2017. Participants with at least two assessment points entered the study. Using baseline and follow-up assessments four groups were defined: Older adults who were healthy (HOA), with very mild cognitive but not functional impairment (eMCI), and with MCI who did and did not convert to dementia (MCI converters and non-converters). Results Only the VSTMBT predicted group membership in the very early stages (HOA vs eMCI). As the disease progressed, the FCSRT became a strong predictor excluding the VSTMB from the models. Their complementary value was high during the mid-prodromal stages and decreased in stages closer to dementia. Discussion The study supports the notion that neuropsychological assessment for AD needs to abandon the notion of one-size-fits-all. A memory toolkit for AD needs to consider tools that are early indicators and tools that suggest imminent progression. The VSTMBT and the FSCRT are such tools.

Available assessments for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease (AD) identify neuropsychological and functional impairments, which rarely correlate in the early disease stages. The ability to bind information in memory declines in preclinical AD stages. However, it is unclear whether such cognitive deficits underlie functional impairment in prodromal AD stages. This study investigates whether incorporating memory binding, a function that is a sensitive cognitive marker for early-stage AD, into a functional assessment tool can reveal the cognitive underpinnings of daily activities. The Details of Function of Everyday Life (DoFEL) scale was revised, and its latent structure was explored through principal axis factoring in a nonclinical sample (n = 559). Dementia professionals subsequently reviewed the revised DoFEL for content validity, followed by confirmatory factor analysis in another nonclinical sample (n = 135). Additionally, 49 participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 33 healthy controls completed the DoFEL, Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination-Revised (ACE-R) and a Visual Short-Term Memory Binding Task (VSTMBT). Correlation analysis and binomial regression were used to examine the relationship between DoFEL scores and cognitive measures and to assess its ability to differentiate between healthy controls and MCI patients. The revised DoFEL showed satisfactory structural and construct validity, although some items lacked content validity. Significant negative associations were found between DoFEL scores and ACE-R (r = −0.66, p<0.001) as well as VSTMBT (r = −0.52, p=0.003) performances. Binomial regression demonstrated the DoFEL’s effectiveness in distinguishing healthy controls from MCI patients (AUC = 0.95). These findings suggest that linking memory binding with functional performance could enhance functional assessment in early-stage AD.

Threatening stimuli seem to capture attention more swiftly than neutral stimuli. This attention bias has been observed under different experimental conditions and with different types of stimuli. It remains unclear whether this adaptive behaviour reflects the function of automatic or controlled attention mechanisms. Additionally, the spatiotemporal dynamics of its neural correlates are largely unknown. The present study investigates these issues using an Emotional Flanker Task synchronized with EEG recordings. A group of 32 healthy participants saw response-relevant images (emotional scenes from IAPS or line drawings of objects) flanked by response-irrelevant distracters (i.e., emotional scenes flanked by line drawings or vice versa). We assessed behavioural and ERP responses drawn from four task conditions (Threat-Central, Neutral-Central, Threat-Peripheral, and Neutral-Peripheral) and subjected these responses to repeated-measures ANOVA models. When presented as response-relevant targets, threatening images attracted faster and more accurate responses. They did not affect response accuracy to targets when presented as response-irrelevant flankers. However, response times were significantly slower when threatening images flanked objects than when neutral images were shown as flankers. This result replicated the well-known Emotional Flanker Effect. Behavioural responses to response-relevant threatening targets were accompanied by significant modulations of ERP activity across all time-windows and regions of interest and displayed some meaningful correlations. The Emotional Flanker Effect was accompanied by a modulation over parietal and central-parietal regions within a time-window between 550-690ms. Such a modulation suggests that the attentional disruption to targets caused by response-irrelevant threatening flankers appears to reflect less neural resources available, which are seemingly drawn away by distracting threatening flankers. The observed spatiotemporal dynamics seem to concur with understanding of the important adaptive role attributed to threat-related attention bias.

The Latin American Brain Health Institute (BrainLat) has released a unique multimodal neuroimaging dataset of 780 participants from Latin American. The dataset includes 530 patients with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and 250 healthy controls (HCs). This dataset (62.7 ± 9.5 years, age range 21–89 years) was collected through a multicentric effort across five Latin American countries to address the need for affordable, scalable, and available biomarkers in regions with larger inequities. The BrainLat is the first regional collection of clinical and cognitive assessments, anatomical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), resting-state functional MRI (fMRI), diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI), and high density resting-state electroencephalography (EEG) in dementia patients. In addition, it includes demographic information about harmonized recruitment and assessment protocols. The dataset is publicly available to encourage further research and development of tools and health applications for neurodegeneration based on multimodal neuroimaging, promoting the assessment of regional variability and inclusion of underrepresented participants in research.

Background and Aims Early‐stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) is often associated with subtle functional changes that may go undetected by conventional assessment tools. The Details of Functions of Everyday Life – Revised (DoFEL‐R) was developed to address this gap by embedding updated theoretical understandings from memory binding into the assessment of everyday tasks. This study aimed to translate, cross‐culturally adapt, and conduct a preliminary validation of the DoFEL‐R for use with Croatian‐speaking older adults. Methods Following the guidelines of the International Test Commission (ITC), the adaptation process included forward and back translation, a Delphi expert panel, cognitive interviews, and pilot testing. A total of 263 community‐dwelling older adults completed the Croatian DoFEL‐R, with fifty‐six participating in a 2‐week follow‐up to assess test‐retest reliability. Results Exploratory factor analysis supported a two‐factor structure aligned with relational and conjunctive binding, consistent with the original theoretical framework. The scale showed strong internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.89) and excellent test‐retest reliability (ICC = 0.91). Cognitive interviews indicated good face validity and cultural appropriateness of the adapted items. Conclusion These findings support the Croatian DoFEL‐R as a valid and reliable tool for identifying early functional decline indicative of AD‐related dementia in older adults. Its use may enhance early detection of preclinical AD and inform clinical assessment practices in Croatia and similar cultural contexts. However, the sample's relatively high educational and digital literacy levels may limit generalisability, and further research is needed to confirm applicability across more diverse populations.

Literature has shown an increase in research relating to autism and aging, and more specifically, autism and healthy aging. Within the literature, there is a clear lack of knowledge and understanding of the impacts of dementia and autism as co-occurring experiences. More specifically, there is a lack of clinical knowledge about the ways in which the cognitive profiles of autism and dementia do and do not overlap, and how this overlap might affect dementia assessments for this population. This is likely to result in challenges with diagnosis and may lead to misdiagnosis or a lack of diagnosis for the autistic population. This paper reports on a narrative literature review that addresses the lack of understanding of potential similarities and differences in the cognitive profiles of autistic people and patients with dementia. It aims to identify the cognitive functions that are sensitive only to dementia and are less likely to be sensitive to autism. This will allow for a deeper understanding of how to grant sensitivity and specificity in the assessment of dementia within the autistic population. The narrative literature review relies on existing guidelines (eg, PRISMA [Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses]) to inform a newly developed tool, namely the Quality of Evidence Tool (QoET), used to assess publications identified in relevant databases (eg, PubMed, PsycINFO, and others) that report on cognitive functions in autism. Four main cognitive domains were chosen: memory, executive function, attention, and language, as these are the most commonly impaired in people with dementia due to Alzheimer disease and are known to be affected by autism. The QoET was used to select publications that informed us of cognitive functions that would meet our aim, that is, functions affected by dementia and not by autism. This narrative review will identify cognitive domains and functions affected by dementia, not autism, and the assessment tools that yield these findings. It is expected that the rigorous methodological approach devised will shed light on how existing cognitive assessments should be used to increase the specificity of dementia risk detection among autistic individuals, thereby addressing early concerns raised by individuals or health care practitioners. It is expected that the review will be ready for publication by December 2026. As of April 2026, memory and executive function have been drafted. This narrative review does not seek to give a definitive answer on the cognitive domain, function, and outcome measures or tests used in dementia detection, which can help detect risk in autistic individuals. Instead, it aims to provide a starting point, to pragmatically and efficiently explore and synthesize the broad evidence base, to inform future work and potentially highlight topics (eg, cognitive functions of interest) on which future systematic reviews could specifically focus.

Cancer-related cognitive impairment (CRCI) is frequently reported during cancer treatment, with 35% of patients experiencing cognitive issues even after treatment completion. Commonly reported impairments include difficulties with memory, attention, executive function, and processing speed, which often reduce daily functioning and quality of life (QoL). Despite its prevalence, CRCI remains underresearched across various cancer types, limiting understanding of the patient experience. This study aims to synthesize the qualitative evidence regarding the lived experience of CRCI across cancer types. It seeks to do so by exploring how commonly CRCI is subjectively experienced among cancer populations. It also aims to explore the cognitive domains perceived as most affected and the impact on QoL and functional ability. We conducted a qualitative systematic review using the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology. A comprehensive search across PubMed, APA PsycInfo, CINAHL, and Scopus for studies published from 2013 through July 2025 was performed. Articles addressing the experience of CRCI using qualitative or mixed methods were included. Two independent reviewers screened titles, abstracts, and full texts, with a third reviewer resolving conflicts during the inclusion process. Two reviewers piloted the data extraction process by discussing and selecting 10% of the studies. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme checklist was used for data extraction and quality assessment. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The database search identified 11,269 papers; 51 were included for analysis. Breast cancer was the most represented cancer type (n=32). The analysis revealed 4 themes. \"Cognitive challenges\" explores the impacted cognitive domains such as memory, concentration, executive functions, language, and processing speed; \"navigating employment\" discusses challenges associated with return to work, support, and disclosure; \"emotional, behavioral, and psychological impacts\" explores emotional and psychological responses; and \"support systems\" emphasizes the role of social and health care support. CRCI negatively affects QoL and functional ability, and there is lack of understanding and resources in place to manage its effects. This qualitative systematic review highlights the significant disruption of CRCI in daily life, stressing the need for increased awareness, standardized screening, and further research into digital interventions. Improved management of CRCI can support survivors of cancer in reintegrating into their daily lives and employment. RR2-10.2196/56888.

Background Over the past decade, visual short-term memory (VSTM) binding tests have been shown to be one of the most sensitive behavioral indicators of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), especially when they require the binding of multiple features (e.g., color and shape). Recently, it has become possible to directly measure amyloid and tau levels in vivo via positron emission tomography (PET). To this point, these behavioral and neurochemical markers have not been compared in humans with AD or at risk for it. Methods In a cross-sectional study, we compared VSTM performance to tau and amyloid concentrations, measured by PET, in individuals certain to develop AD by virtue of their inheritance of the presenilin-1 E280A mutation. These included 21 clinically unimpaired subjects and 7 subjects with early mild cognitive impairment (MCI), as well as 30 family members who were not carriers of the mutation. Results We found that VSTM performance correlated strongly with tau in entorhinal cortex and inferior temporal lobe, and also with amyloid when examining asymptomatic carriers only. The condition requiring binding was not preferentially linked to tau—in fact, the non-binding “shape only” condition showed a stronger relationship. Conclusions The results confirm VSTM’s status as an early marker of AD pathology and raise interesting questions as to the course of binding-specific versus non-binding aspects of VSTM in early AD.

Measuring transient functional connectivity is an important challenge in electroencephalogram (EEG) research. Here, the rich potential for insightful, discriminative information of brain activity offered by high-temporal resolution is confounded by the inherent noise of the medium and the spurious nature of correlations computed over short temporal windows. We propose a methodology to overcome these problems called filter average short-term (FAST) functional connectivity. First, a long-term, stable, functional connectivity is averaged across an entire study cohort for a given pair of visual short-term memory (VSTM) tasks. The resulting average connectivity matrix, containing information on the strongest general connections for the tasks, is used as a filter to analyze the transient high-temporal resolution functional connectivity of individual subjects. In simulations, we show that this method accurately discriminates differences in noisy event-related potentials (ERPs) between two conditions where standard connectivity and other comparable methods fail. We then apply this to analyze an activity related to visual short-term memory binding deficits in two cohorts of familial and sporadic Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-related mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Reproducible significant differences were found in the binding task with no significant difference in the shape task in the P300 ERP range. This allows new sensitive measurements of transient functional connectivity, which can be implemented to obtain results of clinical significance. Filter average short-term (FAST) connectivity is an EEG analysis method that enhances detection of dynamic functional connectivity changes during cognitive events like event-related potentials, effectively handling EEG noise and maximizing temporal resolution. It reduces the required trial numbers for reliable analysis, particularly beneficial for studying tasks such as working memory. FAST connectivity complements traditional methods by focusing on temporal connectivity patterns, showing superior performance in simulations compared with standard measures. Applied to Alzheimer’s datasets, it identifies significant differences in brain activity during visual short-term memory tasks, highlighting its potential for understanding neurological conditions.