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Factors affecting subjective memory complaints in the AIBL aging study: biomarkers, memory, affect, and age
R Buckley1, M M Saling, D Ames
1Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia. rachel.buckley@unimelb.edu.au
International Psychogeriatrics
|May 23, 2013
Summary
Subjective memory complaints (SMCs) in healthy older adults are linked to mood, not cognitive decline or Alzheimer's biomarkers. Assessing mood alongside cognition is recommended for memory complainers.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatry
Background:
- The diagnostic value of subjective memory complaints (SMCs) for Alzheimer's disease (AD) is uncertain.
- SMCs are sometimes linked to cognitive decline but often more strongly to depression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between SMC severity and affect, memory, and AD biomarkers.
- To compare these associations in healthy elderly controls (HC) and individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional analysis of data from the Australian Imaging Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) Study of Aging.
- Assessed SMC severity using the Memory Assessment Clinics Questionnaire (MAC-Q).
- Examined relationships with affect, cognitive variables, and AD biomarkers (amyloid deposition, APOEε4).
Main Results:
- SMCs were more severe in MCI individuals than in HCs.
- SMC severity correlated with affective variables and age, but not with cognitive measures or AD biomarkers.
- In HCs, SMCs related only to affect; in MCI, they related only to age.
Conclusions:
- In cognitively healthy elderly, SMCs are primarily associated with mood, with subclinical mean levels.
- Recommends assessing affective symptomatology alongside cognitive evaluations in elderly individuals with memory complaints.
- Future research will explore other AD biomarkers and the predictive value of SMCs for cognitive decline.
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