Liesbeth Aerts

UNSW Sydney | UNSW · Dementia Collaborative Research Centres (DCRC)

Access full text: http://rdcu.be/kQqv Increasing recognition that apathy is one of the most prevalent behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia and causes substantial caregiver distress has led to trials evaluating psychosocial and pharmacological treatments of apathy in dementia. We evaluated evidence of the efficacy of pharmacotherapies...

Mutations in the gene encoding the mitochondrial kinase PINK1 cause early-onset familial Parkinson's disease. To understand the biological function of PINK1 and its role in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease, it is useful to study its kinase activity towards substrates both in vivo and in vitro. For in vitro kinase assays, a purified Triboleum...

PINK1 [phosphatase and tensin homologue (PTEN)-induced putative kinase 1] is a serine/threonine kinase targeted to mitochondria and implicated in early-onset recessive Parkinson's disease (PD). Through the phosphorylation of its downstream targets, PINK1 regulates multiple mitochondrial processes, including ATP production, stress-response and mitoc...

Mutations in the PINK1 gene cause early-onset recessive Parkinson's disease (PD). PINK1 is a mitochondria-targeted kinase that regulates multiple aspects of mitochondrial biology, from oxidative phosphorylation to mitochondrial clearance. PINK1 itself is also phosphorylated and this might be linked to the regulation of its multiple activities. Here...

Carbon-based supercapacitors can provide high electrical power, but they do not have sufficient energy density to directly compete with batteries. We found that a nitrogen-doped ordered mesoporous few-layer carbon has a capacitance of 855 farads per gram in aqueous electrolytes and can be bipolarly charged or discharged at a fast, carbon-like speed...

Introduction: Harmonized neuropsychological assessment for neurocognitive disorders, an international priority for valid and reliable diagnostic procedures, has been achieved only in specific countries or research contexts. Methods: To harmonize the assessment of mild cognitive impairment in Europe, a workshop (Geneva, May 2018) convened stakeho...

Objectives Use of antipsychotic drugs in long-term aged care (LTC) is prevalent and commonly exceeds the recommended duration, but contributors to this problem are not well understood. The objective of this study is to provide a snapshot of the features of and contributors to prolonged use of antipsychotic medications (>12 weeks) among a sample of...

Objectives: Despite limited efficacy and significant safety concerns, antipsychotic medications are frequently used to treat behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) in long-term residential care. This study evaluates the sustained reduction of antipsychotic use for BPSD through a deprescribing intervention and education of health...

The protein complexes that comprise the electron transport chain (ETC) fuel the production of ATP, the universal biochemical energy currency. Defects in ETC function have widespread consequences and are linked to neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease (PD). Defects in NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase, the first complex in the ETC,...

The diagnosis of dementia and the management of its associated symptoms are aided by high-quality assessment tools. However, there is disagreement on the optimal tools among abundant alternatives and lack of consistent quality standards across the different domains of dementia-related change (ie, cognition, severity, function, behavioral and psycho...

Objective: We sought to understand the trajectory of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) better by examining longitudinally different MCI subtypes and progression to dementia and reversion to normal cognition in a community sample. Methods: We evaluated the stability of MCI subtypes and risk of dementia over 4 biennial assessments as part of an ongo...

Objective: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered an intermediate stage between normal aging and dementia. It is diagnosed in the presence of subjective cognitive decline and objective cognitive impairment without significant functional impairment, although there are no standard operationalizations for each of these criteria. The objective...

Objective Oral diseases and conditions are prevalent among older people with dementia and cognitive impairment. While many interventions have been advocated for use in this population, evidence for their effectiveness is unclear. Our objective was to review systematically the content and effectiveness of interventions and implementation strategies...

Mutations in the PINK1 gene cause an early-onset familial form of the common neurodegenerative movement disorder Parkinson’s disease. PINK1 is a mitochondrially targeted kinase that regulates multiple aspects of mitochondrial biology, from oxidative phosphorylation to mitochondrial clearance. Ten years after its original implication in Parkinson’s...

At the Flemish Institute for Biotechnology (VIB), the PhD students organize an international symposium every 2 years. The authors of this article were all members of the organizing committee this year, and we are proud of the programme on offer, which includes a Nobel Prize winner and many other eminent speakers. Organizing the symposium has been a...

Growing axons are guided to their targets by attractive and repulsive cues. In the developing spinal cord, Netrin-1 and Shh guide commissural axons toward the midline. However, the combined inhibition of their activity in commissural axon turning assays does not completely abrogate turning toward floor plate tissue, suggesting that additional guida...