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Related Experiment Videos

Working memory and apolipoprotein E: what's the connection?

V M Rosen1, J L Bergeson, K Putnam

  • 1Geriatric Psychiatry Branch, National Institute of Mental Health, 10 Center Drive, Building 10, Room 3N228, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA. virginia.rosen@nih.gov

Neuropsychologia
|November 6, 2002
PubMed
Summary

Middle-aged individuals with a genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD), indicated by APOE genotype, show early cognitive deficits. These individuals exhibit executive function and primacy impairments, even before dementia symptoms appear.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Genetics
  • Cognitive Psychology

Background:

  • Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by executive function and primacy deficits.
  • Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype is a significant genetic risk factor for AD.
  • Early cognitive changes may precede overt dementia symptoms in individuals at genetic risk.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate whether middle-aged individuals with genetic risk for AD (APOE ε4 carriers) exhibit executive function and primacy deficits compared to non-carriers.
  • To determine if cognitive differences are detectable in non-demented individuals with no apparent cognitive impairments on standardized tests.

Main Methods:

  • Comparison of two middle-aged groups: APOE ε4 carriers and non-carriers, matched for age and education.
  • Assessment using the Operation span task to measure central executive working memory, involving divided attention between mathematical operations and word recall.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Comparison of Primacy scores from the Operation span task and the Buschke selective reminding task.

    • Main Results:

    • APOE ε4 carriers demonstrated significant deficits in divided attention and primacy on the Operation span task compared to non-carriers.
    • No significant group differences were found in Primacy scores from the Buschke selective reminding task, which does not require divided attention.
    • These findings suggest APOE ε4 carriers have reduced ability to divide attention.

    Conclusions:

    • The study provides the first direct evidence linking APOE genotype to cognitive performance in non-demented individuals.
    • Deficits in divided attention and primacy are associated with APOE ε4 carriage, even in the absence of cognitive impairment.
    • These findings highlight the potential for early, subclinical cognitive changes related to AD genetic risk.