Memory concerns in the early Alzheimer's disease prodrome: Regional association with tau deposition

Abstract

Introduction Relationship between self– and informant memory concerns and tau aggregation was assessed in adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods Regional mean standardized uptake value ratios were extracted from [ 18 F]flortaucipir positron emission tomography (PET) scans of 82 at-risk adults in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort. Associations between self– and informant ECog memory scores and tau aggregation were analyzed on both regional and voxelwise bases. Analyses were completed both on the whole sample and restricted to amyloid-positive individuals only. Results Memory concerns were associated with tau aggregation. Self-perception was more associated with frontal tau. In contrast, informant scores were more associated with parietal tau. This source-by-region interaction was more prominent in amyloid-positive participants and observed in both regional and voxelwise analyses. Discussion Quantitative assessment of perceived memory functioning may be useful for screening older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease. Individuals and their informants may provide complementary information relating to the anatomical distribution of tau.

Neuroimaging advances regarding subjective cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease

“…The development of selective tau tracers, such as the most extensively used tracer 18 F-Flortaucipir [ 47 ], allows researchers to investigate regional distribution of tau pathology in the living human brain [ 46 , 48 , 49 ]. In the preclinical stage, the relationship between the symptoms of SCD and tau burden has been reported by Swinford and colleagues [ 50 ]. They scanned SCD subjects using 18 F-flortaucipir PET and determined that the self-reported memory concern was associated with frontal tau levels, whereas the informant-reported concern was related to parietal tau levels.…”

“… Snitz et al (2015) [ 24 , 26 ] MFQ CFQ SCCS PiB-PET Cross-sectional Total: n=92(81.2±8.4) MFQ score relate to global PiB retention Timmers et al (2019) [ 38 ] Memory clinic consultation Intact cognition 18 F-florbetapir PET Cross-sectional Total: n=107(64±8) Higher 18 F-florbetapir BP ND relates to steeper rate of decline on memory, attention/executive and language Verfaillie et al (2019) [ 33 ] CCI SCF Composite of 4 questions 18 F-florbetapir PET Cross-sectional Total: n=106(63.83±7.65) Higher cortical amyloid deposition relates to SCD-related worries and higher memory deficit awareness but not to SCD questionnaires Zwan et al (2016) [ 44 ] MAC-Q IQCODE-S PiB-PET 18 F-flutematamol PET Cross-sectional Low amyloid burden: n=229(71.9±6.5) High amyloid burden: n=78(75.0±7.2) SMC with younger age and ApoE ɛ4 carriers had higher amyloid burden. Swinford et al (2018) [ 50 ] E-Cog 18 F-flortaucipir PET Cross-sectional CN: n=40(76.48±7.211) SMC: n=11(71.55±5.11) EMCI: n=31(75.32±7.29) Memory concern and the self-perception relate to tau aggregation. Cavedo et al (2018) [ 60 ] Memory complaints 18 F-flortaucipir -PET FDG-PET MRI Cross-sectional Women: n=201(76.02±3.24) Men: n=117(76.05±3.85) Men had higher amyloid load glucose hypometabolism and lower RSFC.…”

Longitudinal study of self‐reported hearing loss and subjective cognitive function decline in women

“…Identifying risk factors that may influence cognitive decline at its earliest stages is critical as interventions will most likely be more effective during an early prodromal phase before neurodegenerative or cognitive damage is irreversible. 53 Data on the relation between hearing loss and SCF decline are scarce. Our findings are consistent with our previous study among older men that found the risk of subjective cognitive decline was 30% higher among men with self-reported mild hearing loss, and 42-54% higher among men with moderate or TA B L E 6 Prevalence and adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) for subjective cognitive function according to 2006 hearing status worse hearing loss, 25 and with a smaller study that found self-reported hearing difficulty (queried as "even with a hearing aid") was associated with 22% (95% CI: 14-29%) higher odds of poorer SCF (assessed using 4 questions) 5 years later.…”

The structural MRI markers and cognitive decline in prodromal Alzheimer’s disease: a 2-year longitudinal study

“…In addition, we detected that LMCI participants had higher informant-report ECog scores than the EMCI participants, and both groups showed no difference in the self-reported ECog scores. Swinford (28) had found that self-and informant-ECog memory scores were not correlated with one another in the amyloid-positive adults, and suggested that the two measurements of the subjective memory complaints may be independent. Drawing on his assumptions about the results in his research, we hypothesized that the participants in prodromal AD group might be involved with the more outward signs of cognitive decline that could be noticed by an observer who knew the individual well.…”