Abstract

Objective:

As the absence of Aβ-related memory decline in APOE ϵ4 noncarriers may be due to the relative brevity of previous studies, we aimed to characterize Aβ-related cognitive decline over 72 months in APOE ϵ4 carriers and noncarriers who were cognitively normal (CN).

Methods:

CN older adults (n 423) underwent Aβ imaging and APOE genotyping. Participants completed comprehensive neuropsychological testing at baseline 18-, 36-, 54-, and 72-month assessments.

Results:

Relative to Aβ- CN ϵ4 noncarriers, both Aβ+ CN ϵ4 carriers and noncarriers showed significantly increased decline in measures of memory, language, and executive function as well as higher rates of progression to a clinical classification of mild cognitive impairment. Memory decline was greater in Aβ+ CN ϵ4 carriers than in Aβ+ CN ϵ4 noncarriers. No cognitive decline was evident in Aβ- CN ϵ4 carriers.

Conclusions:

In CN older adults, Aβ+ is associated with memory decline in ϵ4 noncarriers; however, the rate of this decline is much slower than that observed in ϵ4 carriers. These data indicate that the processes by which ϵ4 carriage increases the rate of Aβ-related cognitive decline occur in the preclinical stage of Alzheimer disease.

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2016

Publisher

Lippincott Williams and Wilkins

School

Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease Research and Care

RAS ID

21783

Comments

This is an Author's Accepted Manuscript of:

Lim, Yen Ying, Laws, S.M., Villemagne, V.L., Pietrzak, R.H., Porter, T., Ames, D., ... Maruff, P. (2016). "Aβ-related memory decline in APOE ε4 noncarriers: Implications for Alzheimer disease.". Neurology, 86 (17), p. 1635-1642.

https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000002604

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1212/WNL.0000000000002604