Person:
López Sanz, David

First Name

David

Last Name

López Sanz

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/76845

Affiliation

Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Faculty / Institute

Educación-Centro Formación Profesor

Department

Psicobiología y Metodología en Ciencias del Comportamiento

Area

Psicobiología

Identifiers

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Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 24

Efficacy of Cognitive Training in Older Adults with and without Subjective Cognitive Decline Is Associated with Inhibition Efficiency and Working Memory Span, Not with Cognitive Reserve
(Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, 2018) López Sánchez, Ramón; Martín Aragoneses, María Teresa; Rubio Valdehita, Susana; Delgado Losada, María Luisa; Montejo, Pedro; Montenegro Peña, María Mercedes; Prados Atienza, José María; De Frutos Lucas, Jaisalmer; López Sanz, David
The present study explores the role of cognitive reserve, executive functions, and working memory (WM) span, as factors that might explain training outcomes in cognitive status. Eighty-one older adults voluntarily participated in the study, classified either as older adults with subjective cognitive decline or cognitively intact. Each participant underwent a neuropsychological assessment that was conducted both at baseline (entailing cognitive reserve, executive functions, WM span and depressive symptomatology measures, as well as the Mini-Mental State Exam regarding initial cognitive status), and then 6 months later, once each participant had completed the training program (Mini-Mental State Exam at the endpoint). With respect to cognitive status the training program was most beneficial for subjective cognitive decline participants with low efficiency in inhibition at baseline (explaining a 33% of Mini-Mental State Exam total variance), whereas for cognitively intact participants training gains were observed for those who presented lower WM span.
Project number: PIMCD141/23-24
Proceso de acogida de profesores nóveles
(2024) Alonso García, Miguel Aurelio; Alonso Ferrés, María; Arnaiz Schmitz, Cecilia; Arranz Paraíso, Sandra; Chacón Gómez, José Carlos; Correas Marín, María De Los Ángeles; Berrocal Berrocal, Francisca; Castaño Collado, Gloria; Delgado Álvarez, Alfonso; Fernández Mateos, María Del Pilar; Gómez Flechoso, María De Los Ángeles; Hurtado Moreno, Olivia; López Sanz, David; Planells Delpozo, Paloma Nieves; Rujas Pascual, Irene; Vivero Couto, Lara; Cabezas Álvarez, Maria del Carmen; García Gil, Victorio; Sánchez González, José Luis; Sancho Romera, Javier; Alonso García, Miguel Aurelio
El proyecto ha permitido desarrollar el proceso de un programa de onboarding, así como técnicas de acogida que permitan orientar y facilitar la integración de profesores de nuevo ingreso de la Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM). Se ha realizado a modo de proyecto piloto en una facultad y se extenderá ahora a otras de la Universidad.
Influence of cognitive reserve on neuropsychological performance in subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment older adults
(Current Psychology, 2023) López Sánchez, Ramón; Rubio Valdehita, Susana; Delgado Losada, María Luisa; López Sanz, David
The analysis of the relationships between cognitive reserve and different cognitive domains has become a matter of interest since it can help us detect deviations from the typical ageing process. The main objective of our study was to analyse a structural equation model representing cognitive reserve’s relationships with three cognitive domains (episodic memory, working memory, and sentence comprehension) in older adults with subjective cognitive decline and mild cognitive impairment patients, in a cross-sectional study. A total of 266 Spanish-speaking older adults, from 65 to 80 years old, voluntarily participated in the study. The assessment protocol includes questionnaires as well as screening and domain-specific tests, providing relevant information for the classification of participants in the two groups previously mentioned (n1 = 150 and n2 = 116). The proposed model presented metric and configural invariance as well as stability across groups, since the indices reflecting goodness-of-fit reach acceptable values. Our hypotheses are partially confirmed since cognitive reserve strongly influences working memory and it does moderately in sentence comprehension in both groups, but it hardly influences episodic memory in the subjective cognitive decline group, while both are inversely associated in the patients’ group. Working memory could be considered as a mechanism through which cognitive reserve exerts its protector role on other cognitive domains: on sentence comprehension in both groups, and on episodic memory in the subjective cognitive decline group. However, in mild cognitive impairments patients, cognitive reserve does no longer influence episodic memory via working memory in a significant manner.
Biomagnetic biomarkers for dementia: A pilot multicentre study with a recommended methodological framework for magnetoencephalography
(Alzheimer's and Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment and Disease Monitoring, 2019) Hughes, Laura E.; Henson, Richard N.; Pereda, Ernesto; Quinn, Andrew J.; Woolrich, Mark W.; Nobre, Anna C.; Rowe, James B.; López Sanz, David; Maestu Unturbe, Fernando; Bruña Fernández, Ricardo; Jovicich, Jorge; Frisoni, Giovanni B.
Introduction An increasing number of studies are using magnetoencephalography (MEG) to study dementia. Here we define a common methodological framework for MEG resting-state acquisition and analysis to facilitate the pooling of data from different sites. Methods Two groups of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 84) and healthy controls (n = 84) were combined from three sites, and site and group differences inspected in terms of power spectra and functional connectivity. Classification accuracy for MCI versus controls was compared across three different types of MEG analyses, and compared with classification based on structural MRI. Results The spectral analyses confirmed frequency-specific differences in patients with MCI, both in power and connectivity patterns, with highest classification accuracy from connectivity. Critically, site acquisition differences did not dominate the results. Discussion This work provides detailed protocols and analyses that are sensitive to cognitive impairment, and that will enable standardized data sharing to facilitate large-scale collaborative projects.
Drug polyconsumption is associated with increased synchronization of brain electrical-activity at rest and in a counting task
(International Journal of Neural Systems, 2013) Coullaut-Valera, R; Arbaiza, I; Bajo Bretón, Ricardo; Arrue, R; López García, María Eugenia; Collaut-Valera, J; Correas Marín, María De Los Ángeles; López Sanz, David; Maestu Unturbe, Fernando; Papo, D
Drug abusers typically consume not just one but several types of drugs, starting from alcohol and marijuana consumption, and then dramatically lapsing into addiction to harder drugs, such as cocaine, heroin, or amphetamine. The brain of drug abusers presents various structural and neurophysiological abnormalities, some of which may predate drug consumption onset. However, how these changes translate into modifications in functional brain connectivity is still poorly understood. To characterize functional connectivity patterns, we recorded Electroencephalogram (EEG) activity from 21 detoxified drug abusers and 20 age-matched control subjects performing a simple counting task and at rest activity. To evaluate the cortical brain connectivity network we applied the Synchronization Likelihood algorithm. The results showed that drug abusers had higher synchronization levels at low frequencies, mainly in the θ band (4–8 Hz) between frontal and posterior cortical regions. During the counting task, patients showed increased synchronization in the β (14–35 Hz), and γ (35–45 Hz) frequency bands, in fronto-posterior and interhemispheric temporal regions. Taken together 'slow-down' at rest and task-related 'over-exertion' could indicate that the brain of drug abusers is suffering from a premature form of ageing. Future studies will clarify whether this condition can be reversed following prolonged periods of abstinence.
Physical activity effects on the individual alpha peak frequency of older adults with and without genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s Disease: A MEG study
(Clinical Neurophysiology, 2018) De Frutos Lucas, Jaisalmer; López Sanz, David; Zuluaga Arias, María Del Pilar; Rodríguez Rojo, Inmaculada Concepción; Cazorla Luna, Raúl; López García, María Eugenia; Delgado Losada, María Luisa; Marcos Dolado, Alberto; Barabash Bustelo, Ana; López Sánchez, Ramón; Maestu Unturbe, Fernando; Fernández Lucas, Alberto Amable
Objective Since a cure for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is yet to be discovered, attention has shifted towards prevention. Physical activity (PA) emerged as a notorious lifestyle factor that could influence brain structure and function. The individual alpha peak frequency (IAPF) is a measure that summarizes the spectral content of brain signals and has been proven to be sensitive to both AD pathology and PA interventions. Therefore, our goal was to unravel whether chronic PA modulates IAPF and if APOE ɛ4 carriage moderates this relationship. Methods We analyzed 4-minutes of resting-state magnetoencephalographic recordings from 100 healthy elders that provided self-reported measures of PA, and the IAPF was calculated. Results We found that IAPF was negatively influenced by age and APOE and positively influenced by PA. The effect of PA on IAPF only remained significant for the ɛ4 non-carriers group. Conclusions PA is positively associated to higher IAPF in healthy older adults and could potentially act as a protective factor against cognitive decline. Nevertheless, such effect is non-significant among elders who are more vulnerable to developing AD due to their genetic carriage. Significance This investigation offers the first neurophysiological evidences on the combined effects of APOE genotype and PA in healthy elders.
Electrophysiological brain signatures for the classification of subjective cognitive decline: towards an individual detection in the preclinical stages of dementia
(Alzheimer's Research and Therapy, 2019) López Sanz, David; Bruña Fernández, Ricardo; Delgado Losada, María Luisa; López Sánchez, Ramón; Marcos Dolado, Alberto; Maestu Unturbe, Fernando; Walter, Stefan
Background Alzheimer’s disease (AD) prevalence is rapidly growing as worldwide populations grow older. Available treatments have failed to slow down disease progression, thus increasing research focus towards early or preclinical stages of the disease. Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is known to increase the risk of developing AD and several other negative outcomes. However, it is still very scarcely characterized and there is no neurophysiological study devoted to its individual classification which could improve targeted sample recruitment for clinical trials. Methods Two hundred fifty-two older adults (70 healthy controls, 91 SCD, and 91 MCI) underwent a magnetoencephalography scan. Alpha relative power in the source space was employed to train a LASSO classifier and applied to distinguish between healthy controls and SCD. Moreover, MCI participants were used to further validate the previously trained algorithm. Results The classifier was significantly associated to SCD with an AUC of 0.81 in the whole sample. After randomly splitting the sample in 2/3 for discovery and 1/3 for validation, the newly trained classifier was also able to correctly classify SCD individuals with an AUC of 0.75 in the validation sample. The regions selected by the algorithm included medial frontal, temporal, and occipital areas. The algorithm trained to select SCD individuals was also significantly associated to MCI diagnostic. Conclusions According to our results, magnetoencephalography could be a useful tool for distinguishing individuals with SCD and healthy older adults without cognitive concerns. Furthermore, our classifier showed good external validity, being not only successful for an unseen SCD sample, but also in a different population with MCI cases. This supports its utility in the context of preclinical dementia. These findings highlight the potential applications of electrophysiological techniques to improve sample recruitment at the individual level in the context of clinical trials.
Choice of Magnetometers and Gradiometers after Signal Space Separation
(Sensors, 2017) Garcés, Pilar; López Sanz, David; Maestu Unturbe, Fernando; Pereda, Ernesto
Background: Modern Elekta Neuromag MEG devices include 102 sensor triplets containing one magnetometer and two planar gradiometers. The first processing step is often a signal space separation (SSS), which provides a powerful noise reduction. A question commonly raised by researchers and reviewers relates to which data should be employed in analyses: (1) magnetometers only, (2) gradiometers only, (3) magnetometers and gradiometers together. The MEG community is currently divided with regard to the proper answer. Methods: First, we provide theoretical evidence that both gradiometers and magnetometers result from the backprojection of the same SSS components. Then, we compare resting state and task-related sensor and source estimations from magnetometers and gradiometers in real MEG recordings before and after SSS. Results: SSS introduced a strong increase in the similarity between source time series derived from magnetometers and gradiometers (r2 = 0.3–0.8 before SSS and r2 > 0.80 after SSS). After SSS, resting state power spectrum and functional connectivity, as well as visual evoked responses, derived from both magnetometers and gradiometers were highly similar (Intraclass Correlation Coefficient > 0.8, r 2 > 0.8). Conclusions: After SSS, magnetometer and gradiometer data are estimated from a single set of SSS components (usually ≤ 80). Equivalent results can be obtained with both sensor types in typical MEG experiments.
Age and APOE genotype affect the relationship between objectively measured physical activity and power in the alpha band, a marker of brain disease
(Alzheimer's Research & Therapy, 2020) De Frutos Lucas, Jaisalmer; Cuesta Prieto, Pablo; Ramírez Toraño, Federico; Nebreda Pérez, Alberto; Cuadrado Soto, Esther; Peral Suárez, África; López Sanz, David; Bruña Fernández, Ricardo; Marcos-de Pedro, Silvia; Delgado Losada, María Luisa; López Sobaler, Ana María; Rodríguez Rojo, Inmaculada Concepción; Barabash Bustelo, Ana; Serrano Rodríguez, Juan Manuel; Laws, Simon M.; Marcos Dolado, Alberto; López Sánchez, Ramón; Brown, Belinda M.; Maestu Unturbe, Fernando
BACKGROUND: Electrophysiological studies show that reductions in power within the alpha band are associated with the Alzheimer’s disease (AD) continuum. Physical activity (PA) is a protective factor that has proved to reduce AD risk and pathological brain burden. Previous research has confirmed that exercise increases power in the alpha range. However, little is known regarding whether other non-modifiable risk factors for AD, such as increased age or APOE ε4 carriage, alter the association between PA and power in the alpha band. METHODS: The relationship between PA and alpha band power was examined in a sample of 113 healthy adults using magnetoencephalography. Additionally, we explored whether ε4 carriage and age modulate this association. The correlations between alpha power and gray matter volumes and cognition were also investigated. RESULTS: We detected a parieto-occipital cluster in which PA positively correlated with alpha power. The association between PA and alpha power remained following stratification of the cohort by genotype. Younger and older adults were investigated separately, and only younger adults exhibited a positive relationship between PA and alpha power. Interestingly, when four groups were created based on age (younger-older adult) and APOE (E3/E3-E3/E4), only younger E3/E3 (least predicted risk) and older E3/E4 (greatest predicted risk) had associations between greater alpha power and higher PA. Among older E3/E4, greater alpha power in these regions was associated with improved memory and preserved brain structure. CONCLUSION: PA could protect against the slowing of brain activity that characterizes the AD continuum, where it is of benefit for all individuals, especially E3/E4 older adults.
Searching for Primary Predictors of Conversion from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Alzheimer’s Disease: A Multivariate Follow-Up Study
(Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 2016) López García, María Eugenia; Turrero Nogués, Agustín; Cuesta Prieto, Pablo; López Sanz, David; Bruña Fernández, Ricardo; Marcos Dolado, Alberto; Gil Gregorio, Pedro; Yus, Miguel; Barabash Bustelo, Ana; Cabranes Díaz, José Antonio; Maestu Unturbe, Fernando; Fernández Lucas, Alberto Amable
Recent proposals of diagnostic criteria within the healthy aging-Alzheimer’s disease (AD) continuum stressed the role of biomarker information. More importantly, such information might be critical to predict those mild cognitive impairment (MCI) patients at a higher risk of conversion to AD. Usually, follow-up studies utilize a reduced number of potential markers although the conversion phenomenon may be deemed as multifactorial in essence. In addition, not only biological but also cognitive markers may play an important role. Considering this background, we investigated the role of cognitive reserve, cognitive performance in neuropsychological testing, hippocampal volumes, APOE genotype, and magnetoencephalography power sources to predict the conversion to AD in a sample of 33 MCI patients. MCIs were followed up during a 2-year period and divided into two subgroups according to their outcome: The “stable” MCI group (sMCI, 21 subjects) and the “progressive” MCI group (pMCI, 12 subjects). Baseline multifactorial information was submitted to a hierarchical logistic regression analysis to build a predictive model of conversion to AD. Results indicated that the combination of left hippocampal volume, occipital cortex theta power, and clock drawing copy subtest scores predicted conversion to AD with a 100% of sensitivity and 94.7% of specificity. According to these results it might be suggested that anatomical, cognitive, and neurophysiological markers may be considered as “first order” predictors of progression to AD, while APOE or cognitive reserve proxies might play a more secondary role.