Amyloid burden, neuronal function, and cognitive decline in middle-aged adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease

J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2014 Apr;20(4):422-33. doi: 10.1017/S1355617714000113. Epub 2014 Mar 12.

Abstract

The relative influence of amyloid burden, neuronal structure and function, and prior cognitive performance on prospective memory decline among asymptomatic late middle-aged individuals at risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is currently unknown. We investigated this using longitudinal cognitive data from 122 middle-aged adults (21 "Decliners" and 101 "Stables") enrolled in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention who underwent multimodality neuroimaging [11C-Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB), 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), and structural/functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)] 5.7 ± 1.4 years (range = 2.9-8.9) after their baseline cognitive assessment. Covariate-adjusted regression analyses revealed that the only imaging measure that significantly distinguished Decliners from Stables (p = .027) was a Neuronal Function composite derived from FDG and fMRI. In contrast, several cognitive measures, especially those that tap episodic memory, significantly distinguished the groups (p's<.05). Complementary receiver operating characteristic curve analyses identified the Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R) Total (.82 ± .05, p < .001), the BVMT-R Delayed Recall (.73 ± .06, p = .001), and the Reading subtest from the Wide-Range Achievement Test-III (.72 ± .06, p = .002) as the top three measures that best discriminated the groups. These findings suggest that early memory test performance might serve a more clinically pivotal role in forecasting future cognitive course than is currently presumed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Alzheimer Disease / complications*
  • Alzheimer Disease / genetics
  • Alzheimer Disease / pathology*
  • Amyloid / metabolism*
  • Analysis of Variance
  • Apolipoprotein E4 / genetics
  • Brain / blood supply
  • Brain / diagnostic imaging
  • Brain / metabolism*
  • Brain / pathology*
  • Cognition Disorders / etiology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neuroimaging
  • Neuropsychological Tests
  • Oxygen / blood
  • ROC Curve
  • Radionuclide Imaging
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Risk Factors

Substances

  • Amyloid
  • Apolipoprotein E4
  • Oxygen