Clinical Evaluation Platform

Patients with cognitive impairment or dementia require an accurate and early diagnosis, an assessment of the cognitive areas of impairment and the severity of the damage, the application of appropriate therapeutic measures and the monitoring of the often progressive course and possible complications. Several clinical and basic disciplines are involved in these tasks.

The Clinical Platform was created with a translational vocation to investigate the clinical-evolutionary knowledge of neurodegenerative pathologies, as a mediation of the basic and social sciences involved in their study, and to explore new ways of their treatment. At the Clinical Platform, the priority is to advance knowledge of neurodegenerative diseases that cause dementia, especially Alzheimer's disease, in order to ultimately obtain better treatment for those who suffer directly or indirectly from them.

A team of specialists in Neurology, Neuropsychology and Nursing make up the Platform and collaborate with geriatricians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and social workers in the care area of the Queen Sofia Foundation Alzheimer Centre. The following tasks are carried out there:

Evaluations of various cohorts of volunteers who provide the clinical, cognitive and socio-demographic data that give meaning to the biological and neuroimaging samples obtained in parallel on other platforms and support the centre's research.
Periodic and protocolised reviews of the patients of the attached Residence who participate in a follow-up programme with evaluations of their neurological, affective and functional state, their cognitive performance, and other analytical, genetic and neuroimaging variables obtained in parallel. All these data are subsequently contrasted with histopathological findings in the brains donated within the programme.
Clinical evaluations of patients who come to our centre requesting a first or second diagnostic opinion.
Collection of clinical data from tissue bank donors for further neuropathological examination.
Intervention programmes with pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies.
Collaboration with the other platforms of the centre in carrying out clinical and translational research projects.
Mediation between basic professionals, relatives and carers of patients. This role is essential so that patients, relatives and carers are aware of CIEN's research aims, and collaborate with the lines of research both internally and externally.

Lines of research

The interests of the CIEN Clinical Evaluation Platform are focused on the following priority lines of research:

‘Vallecas Project’ cohort: exploitation of data obtained from the clinical, neurological and neuropsychological follow-up for more than 10 years of this cohort of more than a thousand volunteers.
Vallecas Queen Sofia Foundation Alzheimer Project Cohort (VARS): longitudinal clinical assessment of patients in the Queen Sofia Foundation Alzheimer Centre CAFRS, both in inpatient (living units) and day care (Day Centre), with protocolised recording of neurological, psychiatric, neuropsychological, demographic, analytical, therapeutic and neuroimaging data, and obtaining the brains of donor individuals.
Registration of cognitively normal or mildly cognitively impaired individuals over 60 years of age, with neuropsychological examination, brain MRI, and collection of blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples. This project, SCAP-AD, led by CIEN, is being developed in 14 national centres with the aim of identifying digital, clinical, neuroimaging and plasma markers of incipient neurodegenerative disease and the prodromal phase of Alzheimer's disease.
Registration of patients with a clinical diagnosis of frontotemporal dementia, with neuropsychological examination, brain MRI, collection of blood and cerebrospinal fluid samples and development of diagnostic markers using RT-QUIC technique and analysis of extracellular microvesicles of neuronal origin. This project, led by CIEN, is being developed in collaboration with the main hospitals in Madrid with the dual objective of identifying diagnostic markers of frontotemporal dementia and facilitating the future participation of these patients in therapeutic clinical trials.
Study of the cognitive trajectories of individuals in the Vallecas Project.
Clinicopathological study of patients with early Alzheimer's disease.
Sleep and activity in Vallecas Project volunteers.
Spatial analysis of changes in retinal layer thickness in Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Collaboration with the Institute of Knowledge Technology of the Complutense University of Madrid and the ACE Foundation.
Clinicopathological study of cerebral amyloid angiopathy in Alzheimer's disease.
Diagnostic markers of Alzheimer's disease obtained in saliva. Collaboration with the Norwegian company Pre-Diagnostics AS within the European Horizon programme.
Diagnostic markers of cerebral amyloid angiopathy in Alzheimer's disease. Collaboration with the Norwegian company Pre-Diagnostics AS within the European Horizon programme.
Robust norms for neuropsychological tests in adults aged 70-85 years.
Health status and lifestyle as risk factors for cognitive impairment and dementia.
Subtle cognitive impairment.
Clinicopathological study of multiple pathology in neurodegenerative disease.
Collaborations in the international COSMIC project.

Featured Publications

Plasma Neurodegenerative Biomarkers in Cognitively Preserved Nonagenarians
This study investigates neurodegenerative biomarkers in plasma of cognitively preserved nonagenarians, providing information on healthy ageing.
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Trajectory of Cognitive Decline Before and After Stroke in 14 Population Cohorts
This article analyses the trajectory of cognitive decline before and after stroke in 14 population cohorts, providing a comprehensive view of stroke-associated cognitive changes.
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Additive Impact of Cardiometabolic Multimorbidity and Depression on Cognitive Decline: Findings from Multi-Regional Cohorts and Generalization from Community to Clinic
Research addresses how cardiometabolic multimorbidity and depression jointly affect cognitive decline, based on data from multiple regional cohorts.
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Dimensions of Cognitive Reserve and Their Predictive Power of Cognitive Performance and Decline in the Elderly
This study explores how different dimensions of cognitive reserve can predict cognitive performance and decline in older people.
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Education and Literacy as Risk Factors of Dementia after Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack: NEDICES Study
This article examines how education and literacy act as risk factors for dementia after stroke and transient ischemic attack, according to the NEDICES study.
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The Health Status: The Ignored Risk Factor in Dementia Incidence. NEDICES Cohort
This study highlights health status as an ignored risk factor in dementia incidence, based on the NEDICES cohort.
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Predementia Constructs: Mild Cognitive Impairment or Mild Neurocognitive Disorder? A Narrative Review
This narrative review analyses predementia constructs, comparing mild cognitive impairment with mild neurocognitive disorder.
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Impact of Individual and Neighborhood Dimensions of Socioeconomic Status on the Prevalence of Mild Cognitive Impairment Over Seven-Year Follow-Up
This study investigates how individual and neighbourhood dimensions of socioeconomic status impact on the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment over a seven-year follow-up.
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Combined Alzheimer's Disease and Cerebrovascular Staging Explains Advanced Dementia Cognition
Research suggests that combined staging of Alzheimer's disease and cerebrovascular status may explain cognition in advanced dementia.
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Effects of Commonly Prescribed Drugs on Cognition and Mild Cognitive Impairment in Healthy Elderly People
This study evaluates how commonly prescribed drugs affect cognition and mild cognitive impairment in healthy elderly people.
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