Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 25, 2026
Transcranial Pulse Stimulation for Alzheimer's Patients
Published on: April 4, 2025
Longitudinal decline in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease: Analyses of placebo data from clinical trials
Ronald G Thomas1, Marilyn Albert2, Ronald C Petersen3
1Department of Neurosciences, University of California San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA.
Introduction:
Accurate estimates of cognitive and clinical decline rates are essential to the design of clinical trials in Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia.
Methods:
To investigate the trajectories of individuals enrolled in therapeutic trials in mild-to-moderate AD, we analyzed the placebo arm data from 20 clinical trials including over 4500 subjects. We analyzed decline as measured by two cognitive instruments, the cognitive subscale of the Alzheimer's Disease Assessment Scale (ADAScog) and the Mini-Mental State Examination, and one clinical rating scale, the Clinical Dementia Rating Sum of Boxes.
Results:
Trajectories were generally similar across trials and nearly linear. Greater cognitive impairment at baseline, younger age, and greater education were associated with increased rate of cognitive decline. Effect sizes for the ADAScog were generated as a function of population characteristics.
Discussion:
These data will inform the design of future studies of potential disease-modifying therapies for mild-to-moderate AD dementia.
More Related Videos
06:23The 4 Mountains Test: A Short Test of Spatial Memory with High Sensitivity for the Diagnosis of Pre-dementia Alzheimer's Disease
Published on: October 13, 2016
08:01Intracerebroventricular Injection of Amyloid-β Peptides in Normal Mice to Acutely Induce Alzheimer-like Cognitive Deficits
Published on: March 16, 2016