Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1990.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Michigan, 1996. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--Duquesne University, 2008. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 63-76) and index.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of Queensland, 2004. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (Ph.D.) - University of St Andrews, May 2008.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 42-49).

Thesis (M.S.)--Duquesne University, 2009. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p. 106-112) and index.

Caregiving for a close family member with Alzheimer’s disease is a stressful situation to be in, that often leads to high levels of caregiver burden and subsequent stress and depressive symptoms, and while there are numerous community and government resources available to caregivers, there are aspects of Hispanic cultures that may lead Hispanic caregivers to have higher levels of caregiver burden and depressive symptoms than White caregivers. 80 Hispanic caregivers and 80 White caregivers, with 40 males and 40 females within each group, will be recruited to participate in this study. Scales will be administered to both Hispanic and White caregivers in order to assess levels of caregiver burden, depressive symptoms, familism values, gender role beliefs, acculturation levels, and knowledge, comfort, and use of community resources. Hispanic caregivers will have higher levels of caregiver burden and depressive symptom scores than White caregivers, while women will have higher scores overall than men overall. Hispanic caregivers will have less knowledge, comfort, and use of community resources than White caregivers, while gender role views, familism values, and acculturation levels will be mediating factors of these relationships. Cultural differences in caregiver burden need to be assessed further, so that clinical and practical implications for community and government resources can be discussed.

Submitted by Jessica Rodrigues Pereira (jessi.r.pereira@gmail.com) on 2018-01-22T16:41:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese Jessica - Versão Final Repositório 22-01-18.pdf: 2894335 bytes, checksum: a8efaf836c88077ed2cb780b065b5280 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ana Paula Santulo Custódio de Medeiros null (asantulo@rc.unesp.br) on 2018-01-22T18:30:21Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 pereira_jr_dr_rcla.pdf: 2846144 bytes, checksum: f08be1f619ef1ff539db03fa8c324a66 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-01-22T18:30:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 pereira_jr_dr_rcla.pdf: 2846144 bytes, checksum: f08be1f619ef1ff539db03fa8c324a66 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-11-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A literatura aponta que um estilo de vida saudável é um fator benéfico ao envelhecimento, fazendo parte desse estilo de vida saudável a prática regular de atividade física. A presença de doenças pode ser um fator que dificulta a prática de atividade física, tornando-se assim uma barreira. A doença de Alzheimer (DA) pode ser um desses fatores que agem como barreira. Considerando-se que na DA a prática de atividade física é considerada como tratamento não farmacológico, será que os pacientes com a doença estão praticando-a em frequência e intensidade ideais? O objetivo do presente estudo foi analisar as principais barreiras que dificultam a prática de atividade física em pacientes com doença de Alzheimer. Este estudo tem um delineamento de corte transversal, de caráter epidemiológico de base populacional. Foram avaliados 104 idosos residentes na zona urbana do município de Rio Claro – SP, uma cidade interiorana e de porte médio. O processo de amostragem foi realizado por meio de consulta a serviços públicos e particulares de saúde que encaminhou idosos com diagnóstico clínico de DA para a pesquisa. O participante com DA e seu cuidador responderam a uma entrevista por meio de testes e questionários, com duração aproximada de 45 minutos. Dentre os instrumentos de avaliação utilizados, destacam-se: Questionário de Barreiras à Prática de Atividades Físicas (QBPAF); Questionário Complementar (CQ), que foi elaborado para se avaliar possíveis barreiras diretamente relacionadas a DA; Questionário Qualitativo (QQ) sobre hábitos de prática de atividades físicas. Em relação ao QBPAF as principais barreiras encontradas na visão do cuidador são: 1) Depender de outras pessoas para praticar; 2) Não se lembrar de praticar; e 3) Necessidade de descansar e relaxar no tempo livre. Quanto as barreiras percebidas pelos pacientes destacam-se: 1) Já se considerar suficientemente ativo; 2) Não se lembrar de praticar; e 3) Não ter tempo livre o suficiente. O QC apontou ainda como barreira o paciente ficar confuso com relação ao local e horário da atividade e sentir dificuldade de se engajar em atividades sociais. Quanto ao QQ, observou-se que embora os cuidadores reconheçam a importância da prática de atividade física, estes julgam que faltam profissionais capacitados para lidar com idosos com DA, dificuldade de disponibilidade dos próprios cuidadores em atender as demandas do paciente e que projetos que atendam idosos com patologias devam ter maior abrangência. Assim, conclui-se que dentre todas as barreiras encontradas a dependência de um cuidador pode ser determinante no estilo de vida do paciente. / The literature points out that a healthy lifestyle is a beneficial factor to aging, including the regular practice of physical activity. The presence of diseases can be a factor that hinders a practice of physical activity, thus becoming a barrier. Alzheimer's disease (AD) may be one of the factors that act as a barrier. Considering that in AD the practice of physical activity is reputable as non-pharmacological treatment, is it that the patients with the disease are practicing it at optimal frequency and intensity? The aim of this study was to analyze as main barriers that impede a practice of physical activity in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The present study had a cross-sectional, epidemiologically based population-based design. A total of 104 elderly people living in the urban area of the city of Rio Claro - SP, an interior and medium-sized city, were evaluated. The sampling process was performed through consultation with public and private health services that referred elderly with clinical diagnosis of AD for research. The participant with AD and their caregiver answered an interview through tests and questionnaires, which lasted approximately 45 minutes. Among the evaluation instruments used, in particular: Questionnaire on Barriers to Practice of Physical Activities (QBPAF); Supplementary Questionnaire (QC), which was prepared for a category of AD-related direct barriers; Qualitative Questionnaire (QQ) about habits of physical activity practice. Regarding the QBPAF as main barriers found in the caregiver's vision are: 1) Relying on other people to practice; 2) Do not remember to practice; and 3) Need to rest and relax without free time. As for barriers perceived by outstanding patients: 1) Already considered active enough; 2) Do not remember to practice; and 3) you do not have enough time available. The QC also pointed out as a barrier the patient was confused about the place and time of the activity and felt difficulty in engaging in activities. Regarding QQ, it was observed that most caregivers recognized the importance of practicing physical activity, which they consider to be lacking professionals capable of dealing with elderly people with AD, difficulty of availability of the caregivers themselves in attendance as demands of the patient and elderly projects with pathologies should have greater comprehensive coverage. Thus, it is concluded that among all barriers as found dependence of a caregiver can be determinant in the patient's lifestyle.

The main purpose of this dissertation project was to assess the behavioral and neural correlates of Episodic Memory as a function of the APOE genotype in a healthy young adult sample. To accomplish this, 98 subjects completed behavioral tasks assessing visual memory, working memory, episodic memory, and attention. Subjects also completed questionnaires evaluating IQ, years of education, drug use, personality, and emotional traits. These subjects were also genotyped for the APOE gene, resulting in 29 APOE-ε4 carriers (subjects who had at least one ε4 allele) and 69 Non APOE-ε4 carriers (having no ε4 alleles). No differences were found between genotypic groups on any demographic characteristics, behavioral measures, or personality traits. From this larger pool of 98 subjects, a subset of 22 subjects (10 APOE-ε4, 12 Non APOE-ε4) completed additional behavioral tasks while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging. While being scanned, subjects were asked to learn word pairs during an encoding phase, make metamemory evaluations on their ability to later remember each word pair during a judgment of learning (JOL) task, and try to discriminate between original and recombined word pairs during a final recognition phase. Interspersed between these tasks was a rest task meant to elicit activity within the Default Network. No differences in memory or metamemory performance were found on the behavioral tasks administered during imaging based on genotype. In contrast, marked differences in brain activation were found between APOE-ε4 carriers and Non APOE-ε4 carriers across the various imaging tasks. During encoding, APOE-ε4 carriers were found to have greater activation than Non APOE-ε4 carriers in the dorsal anterior portion of the left superior temporal gyrus, cingulate gyrus, and anterior middle frontal gyrus. This same pattern - greater APOE-ε4 carrier activation as compared to Non APOE-ε4 carriers - was present in the parahippocampal gyrus and posterior middle temporal gyrus during the judgment of learning metamemory task. During the recognition task, greater activation was found for Non APOE-ε4 carriers versus APOE-ε4 carriers in the left parahippocampal gyrus, SPL, and right anterior superior frontal gyrus. During the rest task, greater activation was seen in APOE-ε4 carriers versus Non APOE-ε4 carriers in the left inferior frontal gyrus, whereas the converse comparison resulted in medial anterior cingulate activation. The lack of behavioral differences suggests that in a healthy young adult sample, as was used in the present study, there are not yet detectable behavioral differences as a function of APOE genotype. The greater neural activity seen in APOE-ε4 carriers during the encoding and judgment of learning tasks is likely to reflect neural compensation: young adult APOE-ε4 carriers compensate for declines in cognitive efficiency with greater neural activity such that this greater neural activity improves behavioral performance, particularly in memory domains (Buckner, Andrews-Hanna, & Schacter, 2008; Han & Bondi, 2008; Levy et al., 2004; Trivedi et al., 2008). The relatively lower levels of activation in APOE-ε4 carriers during the recognition task may reflect stronger memory traces for studied items as a result of greater frontal and medial temporal lobe activity during the encoding and judgment of learning tasks in the APOE-ε4 carriers (Kirwan, Wixted, & Squire, 2008; Mondadoori et al., 2007; Squire, Wixted, & Clark, 2007). In the present sample, a lack of behavioral differences accompanied by neural disparity may signal the precursors of Alzheimer's disease, highlighting the progressive deteriorating influence of the APOE-ε4 allele. The aberrant pattern of default network activity seen in APOE-ε4 carriers underlies this influence as this genotype is proposed to preferentially contribute to the causes of Alzheimer's disease in areas common to the Default Network and Episodic Memory (Buckner et al., 2008). The present results strengthen previous findings illustrating a connection between the brain activity underlying memory processes, the default network, and the APOE genotype.