Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Oct;44(10):3515-3522.
doi: 10.1007/s10072-023-06877-8. Epub 2023 May 29.

Neurophysiological correlates of altered time awareness in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia

Valeria Bracca  1 , Valentina Cantoni  1 , Yasmine Gadola  1 , Jasmine Rivolta  1 , Maura Cosseddu  2 , Rosanna Turrone  2 , Salvatore Caratozzolo  2 , Monica Di Luca  3 , Alessandro Padovani  1   2 , Barbara Borroni  1   2 , Alberto Benussi  4   5
Affiliations

Neurophysiological correlates of altered time awareness in Alzheimer's disease and frontotemporal dementia

Valeria Bracca et al. Neurol Sci. 2023 Oct.

Abstract

Background: Alterations in time awareness have been reported in dementia, particularly in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). However, the neurophysiological correlates underlying these alterations remain largely unexplored. This study aimed to investigate the neurophysiological correlates of altered time awareness in AD and FTD patients.

Methods: A total of 150 participants (50 AD patients, 50 FTD patients, and 50 healthy controls [HC]) underwent a standardized neuropsychological assessment, an altered time awareness survey, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to assess cholinergic (short latency afferent inhibition-SAI), GABAergic (short interval intracortical inhibition-SICI), and glutamatergic (intracortical facilitation-ICF) circuits.

Results: In AD patients, the most frequent symptom was difficulty in ordering past events (52.0%), while FTD patients primarily struggled with estimating temporal intervals between events (40.0%). Significant differences were observed between HC and both patient groups, as well as between AD and FTD patients in their tendency to re-live past events. Binomial logistic regression analysis revealed that impairments in glutamatergic and cholinergic circuits significantly predicted the likelihood of participants manifesting altered time awareness symptoms.

Conclusions: This study provides novel insights into the neurophysiological correlates of altered time awareness in AD and FTD patients, highlighting the involvement of specific neurotransmitter circuits, particularly glutamatergic and cholinergic circuits. Further research is needed to explore the potential clinical implications and therapeutic targets arising from these findings.

Keywords: Acetylcholine; Alzheimer’s disease; Frontotemporal dementia; GABA; Glutamate; Time-awareness; Transcranial magnetic stimulation.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Gustavsson A, Norton N, Fast T, Frölich L, Georges J, Holzapfel D et al (2023) Global estimates on the number of persons across the Alzheimer’s disease continuum. Alzheimer’s Dement 19(2):658–670. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12694 - DOI
    1. Scheltens P, de Strooper B, Kivipelto M, Holstege H, Chételat G, Teunissen CE et al (2021) Alzheimer’s disease. Lancet (London, England) 397(10284):1577–1590. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32205-4 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lane CA, Hardy J, Schott JM (2018) Alzheimer’s disease. Eur J Neurol 25(1):59–70. https://doi.org/10.1111/ene.13439 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Nicholas T, Spina S, Miller BL (2017) Frontotemporal dementia. Neurol Clin 35(2):339–374. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ncl.2017.01.008 - DOI
    1. Knopman DS, Amieva H, Petersen RC, Chételat G, Holtzman DM, Hyman BT et al (2021) Alzheimer disease. Nat Rev Dis Primers 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41572-021-00269-y

Substances

LinkOut - more resources