Researcher: Jaime Mondragon Uribe, MSc (PhD student)
Thesis defense date: September 15, 2021

First promotor: Prof. dr. Peter-Paul De Deyn

Funding: Conacyt

This Ph.D. thesis titled, Anosognosia of memory deficits in dementia: biomarkers, connectivity, and clinical aspects, is an effort to shed light on a neuropsychiatric phenomenon that has both academic research, as well as clinical practice implications. Anosognosia or unawareness of memory deficits is the main topic of this Ph.D. thesis that explores the implications of this neuropsychiatric phenomenon with neuroimaging measures, specifically functional brain connectivity, as well as clinical neurology and biomarker analysis. First, the current research definitions associated with the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) continuum (i.e., the National Institute on Aging and Alzheimer’s Association 2018 AT(N) research framework classification) are put into context, followed by an introduction of brain connectivity as a biomarker of AD progression and the neural correlates of anosognosia reported in the literature as obtained from different neuroimaging techniques. After introducing the biological and neuroimaging implications of anosognosia in the AD continuum, the neural correlates of anosognosia based on the AT(N) classification are reported using data from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort. Finally, this thesis touches upon the clinical implications of anosognosia in end-of-life decision-making

References

• Mondragón, J. D., Maurits, N. M., & De Deyn, P. P. (2019). Functional Neural Correlates of Anosognosia in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease: a Systematic Review. Neuropsychology Review. https://doi.org/(…)7/s11065-019-09410-x

• Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative, Mondragón, J. D., Maurits, N. M. & De Deyn, P. P. (2021). Functional connectivity differences in Alzheimer’s disease and amnestic mild cognitive impairment associated with AT(N) classification and anosognosia. Neurobiology of Aging. 101, p. 22-39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2020.12.021