Luis D Medina1, Ellen Woo2, Yaneth Rodriguez-Agudelo3, Hector Chaparro Maldonado4, Dahyun Yi5, Giovanni Coppola6, Yan Zhou7, Helena C Chui8, John M Ringman9. 1. Department of Psychology, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States. 2. Department of Psychology, California State University Fresno, Fresno, CA, United States; Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, United States. 3. National Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, Mexico City, Mexico. 4. Private Practice, Mexicali, B.C., Mexico. 5. Institute of Human Behavioral Medicine, Medical Research Center, Seoul National University, South Korea. 6. UCLA Department of Neurology, Los Angeles, CA, United States; Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States. 7. Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, United States; UCLA Department of Neurology, Los Angeles, CA, United States. 8. Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA, United States. 9. Department of Neurology, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA, United States. Electronic address: john.ringman@med.usc.edu.
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Subtle deficits in several cognitive domains characterize the neuropsychological profile of preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD). Assessment of preclinical individuals with genes causing autosomal dominant AD (ADAD) provides a model for prodromal disease. We sought to sensitively evaluate attention and working memory using a computerized battery in non-demented persons carrying ADAD mutations. METHOD: A total of 71 non-demented Latinos at-risk for ADAD mutations were recruited [40 mutation carriers (MCs), 31 non-mutation carriers (NCs)] and completed a Spanish language chronometric battery of speeded decision and working memory tasks. RESULTS: On two complex reaction time (RT) tasks involving decision-making and response inhibition, MCs exhibited slower RTs than NCs as they approached their anticipated age of dementia diagnosis. Education moderated these effects, but only in younger MCs. APOE ε4 status was not associated with age-related slowing among NCs or MCs on any of the tests. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate MCs respond more slowly as they approach the age of dementia onset on tasks with greater demands on executive function. Our results also suggest these effects were not explained by APOE ε4 status independently of ADAD mutation status. Computerized reaction time tests can provide sensitive measures of the earliest cognitive changes in AD.
OBJECTIVE: Subtle deficits in several cognitive domains characterize the neuropsychological profile of preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD). Assessment of preclinical individuals with genes causing autosomal dominant AD (ADAD) provides a model for prodromal disease. We sought to sensitively evaluate attention and working memory using a computerized battery in non-demented persons carrying ADAD mutations. METHOD: A total of 71 non-demented Latinos at-risk for ADAD mutations were recruited [40 mutation carriers (MCs), 31 non-mutation carriers (NCs)] and completed a Spanish language chronometric battery of speeded decision and working memory tasks. RESULTS: On two complex reaction time (RT) tasks involving decision-making and response inhibition, MCs exhibited slower RTs than NCs as they approached their anticipated age of dementia diagnosis. Education moderated these effects, but only in younger MCs. APOE ε4 status was not associated with age-related slowing among NCs or MCs on any of the tests. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate MCs respond more slowly as they approach the age of dementia onset on tasks with greater demands on executive function. Our results also suggest these effects were not explained by APOE ε4 status independently of ADAD mutation status. Computerized reaction time tests can provide sensitive measures of the earliest cognitive changes in AD.
Authors: John M Ringman; Luis D Medina; Yaneth Rodriguez-Agudelo; Mireya Chavez; Po Lu; Jeffrey L Cummings Journal: Curr Alzheimer Res Date: 2009-08 Impact factor: 3.498
Authors: G D Schellenberg; T D Bird; E M Wijsman; H T Orr; L Anderson; E Nemens; J A White; L Bonnycastle; J L Weber; M E Alonso Journal: Science Date: 1992-10-23 Impact factor: 47.728
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