Hippocampal function in healthy carriers of the CLU Alzheimer's disease risk variant

J Neurosci. 2011 Dec 7;31(49):18180-4. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4960-11.2011.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease is a devastating, common, progressive dementia with considerable heritability. Recently, a genetic variant associated with the disease was discovered at CLU (rs11136000) with genome-wide support. Here we show, using an imaging genetics approach in a large genotyped sample, that healthy carriers of the variant exhibit altered coupling between hippocampus and prefrontal cortex during memory processing, mirroring clinical evidence of disturbed connectivity in patients and providing a neurogenetic mechanism for CLU-associated risk and protection.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Brain Mapping
  • Clusterin / genetics*
  • Female
  • Genetic Predisposition to Disease*
  • Genome-Wide Association Study
  • Genotype
  • Hippocampus / blood supply
  • Hippocampus / physiopathology*
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Male
  • Memory / physiology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Oxygen / blood
  • Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide / genetics*
  • Prefrontal Cortex
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • CLU protein, human
  • Clusterin
  • Oxygen