Tobias Luck

University of Applied Sciences Erfurt | FHE · Faculty of Applied Social Sciences

Sexual problems relevant to psychotherapy, such as compulsive sexual behavior (CSB) and sexual functioning problems (SFP), have been related to harmful substance use in several studies. Substance use is prevalent among medical students (MS) and is often considered a maladaptive coping strategy for stress, as well as a risk factor for mental health...

Background Activities of daily living functioning (ADL) are relevant in the diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders (NCD). Currently, however, there has been no standardized and validated instrument based on DSM‐5 diagnosis criteria. Our aim was to psychometrically evaluate the differentiated assessment of ADL impairments due to NCD (A‐NKS). Method...

Background: Activities of daily living (ADL) functioning are important in the diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders (NCD), yet no standardized and validated instrument exist based on international classification systems. Objective: We aimed to psychometrically evaluate the differentiated assessment of ADL and instrumental ADL (IADL) impairments...

Objective: Self-perceived cognitive functioning, considered highly relevant in the context of aging and dementia, is assessed in numerous ways-hindering the comparison of findings across studies and settings. Therefore, the present study aimed to link item-level self-report questionnaire data from international aging studies. Method: We harmoniz...

Background Early detection of dementia provides numerous benefits for those living with dementia and their relatives and healthcare systems at large. Methods available for early diagnosis have improved significantly over the past years. Therefore, we examined whether support for offering an early diagnosis of dementia and willingness to pursue a re...

Background Hypersexual and hyposexual behaviors are common concomitant of substance use disorders (SUD). On the one hand, the regular consumption of alcohol or illegal drugs can lead to hypersexual or hyposexual behavior due to its effects on the organism; on the other hand, the use of psychotropic substances is also used as a coping strategy conce...

Ziel der vorliegenden Studie war es, empirisch fundiert abzuschätzen, welcher Anteil der deutschen Erwachsenenbevölkerung Schuldgefühle für wahrgenommene eigene Privilegien empfindet. Datengrundlage hierfür bildeten die Angaben von N = 604 Teilnehmenden einer umfassenden schriftlichen Online-Befragung zu Schuldgefühlen bei Erwachsenen in Deutschlan...

Bereitstellung eines Instrumentes für die Erfassung von Alltagsbeeinträchtigungen bei Neurokognitiven Störungen (A-NKS)

Background: The retina is part of the central nervous system. Layers of the retina can be investigated non-invasively by optical coherence tomography (OCT). Previously, associations of retinal nerve fibre layer thickness (RNFLT) with cognitive function were established in population-based studies. Clinical relevance constitutes the improvement of e...

Understanding the genomic basis of memory processes may help in combating neurodegenerative disorders. Hence, we examined the associations of common genetic variants with verbal short-term memory and verbal learning in adults without dementia or stroke (N = 53,637). We identified novel loci in the intronic region of CDH18, and at 13q21 and 3p21.1,...

Background Experiencing some sort of guilt is a common phenomenon in adulthood. As feeling guilty is usually unpleasant and may even lead to further negative psychological consequences like depression, the aim of this study was to provide comprehensive information on the reasons for such feelings in adults. Methods A cross-sectional web-based surv...

Background Early detection of dementia provides numerous benefits for those living with dementia and their relatives and healthcare systems at large. Methods available for early diagnosis have improved significantly over the past years. Therefore, we examined whether openness towards early diagnosis for dementia and preferred sources of support hav...

Background Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is considered a pre-stage of different dementia syndromes. Despite diagnostic criteria refined by DSM-5 and a new term for MCI – “mild neurocognitive disorder” (mild NCD) – this diagnosis is still based on clinical criteria. Methods To link mild NCD to the underlying pathophysiology we assessed the degree...

Background Feelings of guilt are common in adulthood. Depending on the situation, individuals need different strategies for dealing with these usually unpleasant experiences. The aim of this study was to provide comprehensive empirical information about such different guilt-related strategies used in adulthood. Participants and procedure A cross-s...

Background: Multiple studies have shown that people who have experienced a serious health problem such as an injury tend to overrate the quality of health they had before that event. The main objective of this study was to test whether the phenomenon of respondents overrating their past health can also be observed in people from the general populat...

With the eye as window to the brain, non-invasive fast screening of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness poses the opportunity for early detection of cognitive decline leading to dementia. Our objective is to determine whether performance in various neurocognitive tests has an association with itemized retinal nerve fiber layer thickness. Detailed i...

As higher mental demands at work are associated with lower dementia risk and a key symptom of dementia is hippocampal atrophy, the study aimed at investigating the association between mental demands at work and hippocampal volume. We analyzed data from the population-based LIFE-Adult-Study in Leipzig, Germany ( n = 1,409, age 40–80). Hippocampal vo...

To feel guilty can motivate for prosocial behavior but may also lead to negative health-related outcomes. The aim of this study was to provide epidemiological information on guilt feelings in the German general adult population. Based on findings from a nation-wide telephone survey (n=1,003 adultsaged 18+ years), we calculated weighted point preval...

Zusammenfassung Ziel Bestimmung der Lebenszeitprävalenz von Schuldgefühlen in der deutschen Erwachsenenbevölkerung basierend auf den Daten einer bundesweiten telefonischen Bevölkerungsbefragung (n = 1003; 18+ Jahre; Mai–Juni 2019). Methodik Berechnung gewichteter Prävalenzraten mit Konfidenzintervallen (95 %-KI) und Untersuchung des Zusammenhangs m...

Social cognition, in particular mindreading, enables the understanding of another individual's feelings, intentions, desires, and mental states. The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) captures the ability to identify mental states from gaze. We investigated RMET accuracy in the context of age and cognition across the whole adult age-range (19...

We evaluated 2,865 elderly people to investigate the prevalence of prolonged grief disorder (PGD), examine predictors and mental health correlates. The conditional prevalence of PGD varied between 0.8% and 5.2% (diagnostic algorithm vs. cut-off). PG-13 scores were related to depressive symptoms, sleep disturbances, reduced life satisfaction, and qu...

Background Hospitalization is a key driver of health care costs. Thus far, there are only a few longitudinal studies investigating whether changes in explanatory variables lead to hospitalization. Moreover, these longitudinal studies did not focus on individuals in highest age. Aim The purpose of the current study was to examine the correlates of...

Objectives To examine the impact of determinants of incident dementia in three different old age groups (75–79, 80–84, 85+years) in Germany. Design Multicenter prospective AgeCoDe/AgeQualiDe cohort study with baseline and nine follow-up assessments at 1.5-year intervals. Setting Primary care medical record registry sample. Participants General p...

Background: Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex multifactorial affliction, the pathogenesis of which is thought to involve gene-environment interactions that might be captured in the epigenome. The present study investigated epigenome-wide patterns of DNA methylation (5-methylcytosine, 5mC) and hydroxymethylation (5-hydroxymethylcytos...

Background: In the absence of treatment options, the WHO emphasizes the identification of effective prevention strategies as a key element to counteract the dementia epidemic. Regarding the complex nature of dementia, trials simultaneously targeting multiple risk factors should be particularly effective for prevention. So far, however, only few suc...

Background: Several studies have shown a positive association between anxiety and obesity, particularly in women. We aimed to study whether sex hormone alterations related to obesity might play a role in this association. Patients and methods: Data for this study were obtained from a population-based cohort study (the LIFE-Adult-Study). A total of...

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether transpersonal trust (TPT) moderates the relationship between chronic conditions and general practitioner (GP) visits among the oldest old in Germany. Methods: The multicenter prospective cohort Study on Needs, health service use, costs and health-related quality of life in a large sample...

Accumulating evidence supports a link between depression and being overweight in women. Given previously reported sex differences in fat accumulation and depression prevalence, as well as the likely role of sex hormones in both overweight and mood disorders, we hypothesised that the depression-overweight association may be mediated by sex hormones....

Background: Sex differences in verbal episodic memory function have been widely reported. However, sex-specific effects on rates of episodic memory decline remain controversial, and evidence is particularly scarce in the oldest-old population. Objective: We aimed to investigate sex differences in trajectories of episodic memory performance in ol...

Background: Studies in older adults or those with cognitive impairment have shown associations between cognitive and olfactory performance, but there are few population-based studies especially in younger adults. We therefore cross-sectionally analyzed this association using data from the population-based LIFE-Adult-Study. Methods: Cognitive ass...

The food addiction model suggests neurobiological similarities between substance‐related and addictive disorders and obesity. While structural brain differences have been consistently reported in these conditions, little is known about the neuroanatomical correlates of food addiction. We therefore aimed to determine whether symptoms of food addicti...

Purpose The Sniffin’ Sticks Screening 12 test is a test of olfactory performance based on pen-like odor dispensing devices. The aims of this study were to analyze the performance of this test in a general population sample and to explore associations between olfactory dysfunction and quality of life. Methods A large community sample (n = 7267) com...

Introduction: In this multicenter study on subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in community-based and memory clinic settings, we assessed the (1) incidence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and non-AD dementia and (2) determinants of progression to dementia. Methods: Eleven cohorts provided 2978 participants with SCD and 1391 controls. We estimated dement...

Introduction: In this multicenter study on subjective cognitive decline (SCD) in community-based and memory clinic settings, we assessed the (1) incidence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and non-AD dementia and (2) determinants of progression to dementia. Methods: Eleven cohorts provided 2978 participants with SCD and 1391 controls. We estimated dement...

The role of genetic risk markers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in mediating the neurocognitive endophenotypes (NEs) of subjects with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) has rarely been studied. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between well-known AD-associated single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and individual NEs routi...

Amnestic/non-amnestic × probable/possible MCI flowchart. (Espinosa et al., 2013; Lopez et al., 2003; Petersen, 2004).

Pr-aMCI subtype Heat Map 1) Orientation; 2) Attention and working memory; 3) Processing speed and Executive functions; 4) Language; 5) Verbal Learning and Memory; 6) Praxis; 7) Visual gnosis; 8) Global Cognition; Global orientation, summary of Temporal + Spatial + Personal orientations; WAIS-III: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Third edition; SK...

Comparison of demographic, clinical and APOE-e4 data among the stratified four MCI phenotypes from ACE dataset.

The ANCOVA comparing NE scores among the stratified four MCI phenotypes from ACE dataset.

Genetic effects on NE in the four stratified MCI phenotypes from ACE dataset.

Major results of AD loci unlinked to APOE in MCI neurocognitive endophenotypes by the stratified five MCI phenotypes from ACE dataset.

(A) Comparison of demographic, clinical and APOE-e4 data between patients with aMCI and naMCI phenotypes from the AgeCoDe dataset. (B) Comparison of demographic, clinical and APOE-e4 data between patients with aMCI and naMCI phenotypes from the DCN dataset. (C) The ANCOVA NE scores between aMCI and naMCI groups from the AgeCoDe dataset. (D) The ANC...

Supplementary information from the Pr-aMCI-storage subtype on ACE dataset.

LinearRegressionResults∖RegressionResults_AgeCoDe: all_MCI, mild cognitive impairment total sample; CERAD, the consortium to establish a registry for Alzheimer’s disease; DR, delayed recall from the CERAD; edu, adjusted by educational level; full, adjusted by age, gender, and educational level; unadj, unadjusted by age, gender, and educational leve...

Major results of AD loci unlinked to APOE in MCI neurocognitive endophenotypes by the stratified four MCI phenotypes from ACE dataset.

Pr-aMCI-storage subtype Heat Map 1) Orientation; 2) Attention and working memory; 3) Processing speed and Executive functions; 4) Language; 5) Verbal Learning and Memory; 6) Praxis; 7) Visual gnosis; 8) Global Cognition; Global orientation, summary of Temporal + Spatial + Personal orientations; WAIS-III: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, Third edi...

Objective Subjective cognitive decline (SCD), the earliest symptom in preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD), is insufficient to identify individuals at risk for AD dementia. Therefore, we aimed to investigate whether function in instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) contribute to identification above and beyond SCD. Methods We analysed dat...

Although potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) is associated with risk of harm due to adverse effects, it is frequently prescribed for elderly patients. The aim of this qualitative multi-center study was to gain insight into contextual factors that might lead to chronic PIM use. We conducted semi-structured interviews with elderly patients wit...

Purpose To perform a systematic review and quantitative synthesis of studies on recent trends in dementia incidence in high-income countries (HIC), considering study quality. Methods PubMed and Web of Science were searched for eligible studies, that is, population-based/community-based prospective cohort studies investigating dementia incidence wi...

The food addiction model suggests neurobiological similarities between substance-related and addictive disorders and obesity. While structural brain differences have been consistently reported in these conditions, little is known about the neuroanatomical correlates of food addiction. We therefore assessed whether food addiction, assessed with the...

Background: Oldest-old persons frequently receive potentially inappropriate medication. Medication use takes place under the patients' informal caregivers' influence. We explored informal caregivers' perspectives on medication of (relatively) independent oldest-old persons to identify starting points for safer medication prescription/handling. Me...

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of falls on depressive symptoms among the oldest old in Germany longitudinally. Methods Data were used from 2 waves of the multicenter prospective cohort “Study on needs, health service use, costs and health‐related quality of life in a large sample of oldest‐old primary care patients (...

Background and objectives: We examined the validity of 5 successful aging (SA) operationalizations that assessed different facets of the SA construct (cognitive and physical health and disability; well-being; social engagement). Research design and methods: A total of 2,478 participants (mean age = 82.5 years, standard deviation [SD] = 3.47) wer...

Background Previous studies have shown that higher education may reduce dementia risk and promote a better cognitive functioning in older age. Objective The study investigated to what extent higher education leads to compression of cognitive morbidity, and thus a shorter lifetime affected by cognitive impairment and dementia, in individuals aged 7...

Objective: To provide normative data for the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 3rd edition (WAIS-III) in a population-based sample of community-dwelling older adults in Germany according to age, sex, and level of education. Method: The sample comprised 1385 participants aged 65–79 years from the nationw...

Background: The prevalence of pain is very common in the oldest age group. Managing pain successfully is a key topic in primary care, especially within the ageing population. Different care settings might have an impact on the prevalence of pain and everyday life. Methods: Participants from the German longitudinal cohort study on Needs, Health S...

Lack of social support has shown to be a major risk factor for poor health, mortality, and dementia. We analyzed what factors drive the likelihood of having restricted social networks and to what extent those factors then influence the risk of developing dementia. Our results from the Leipzig Longitudinal Study of the Aged (LEILA75+) indicate that...

General cognitive function is a prominent and relatively stable human trait that is associated with many important life outcomes. We combine cognitive and genetic data from the CHARGE and COGENT consortia, and UK Biobank (total N = 300,486; age 16-102) and find 148 genome-wide significant independent loci (P < 5 × 10-8) associated with general cogn...