Background

Memory tests vary in their sensitivity for detection of pre-symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The Visual Short-Term Memory Binding Test (VSTMBT) identifies AD-related performance deficits in older adults who are otherwise cognitively unimpaired.

Objective

We investigated the association of this psychometric measure with brain amyloidosis and atrophy.

Design

Cross-sectional mixed and correlational.

Setting

Cognitive Reserve Study from Columbia University.

Participants

a sample of 39 cognitively unimpaired older adults (Age: M=65.3, SD=3.07) was obtained from the above study.

Measurements

Extensive neuropsychological and neuroimaging (MRI and amyloid-β PET) assessments were carried out.

Results

Performance on the VSTMBT allowed us to split the sample into Low Binding Cost (LBC, N=21) and High Binding Cost (HBC, N=18). Groups were matched according to age [p=0.702], years of education [0.071], and sex [p=0.291]. HBC’s performance was comparable to that seen in symptomatic AD. Groups only differed in their amyloid-β deposition on PET in regions of the right ventral stream linked to visual cognition and affected early in AD pathogenesis (lateral-occipital cortex, p = 0.008; fusiform gyrus, p = 0.017; and entorhinal cortex, p = 0.046). Other regions known to be linked to low-level visual integration function also revealed increased amyloid-β deposition in HBC.

Conclusions

VSTMB deficits are associated with neuropathogenesis (i.e., amyloid-β deposition) in the earliest affected regions in pre-symptomatic AD. The VSTMB test holds potential for the identification of cognitively unimpaired older adults with very early AD pathogenesis and may thus be a useful tool for early intervention trials or other forms of clinical research.

中文翻译：

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探索认知未受损的老年人中淀粉样蛋白-β 与阿尔茨海默氏病记忆标记物之间的关联

背景

记忆测试对于检测症状前阿尔茨海默病 (AD) 的敏感性各不相同。视觉短期记忆结合测试 (VSTMBT) 可识别认知能力未受损的老年人中与 AD 相关的表现缺陷。

客观的

我们研究了这种心理测量与脑淀粉样变性和萎缩的关联。

设计

横截面混合和相关。

环境

哥伦比亚大学的认知储备研究。

参加者

从上述研究中获得了 39 名认知未受损的老年人样本（年龄：M=65.3，SD=3.07）。

测量

进行了广泛的神经心理学和神经影像学（MRI 和淀粉样蛋白-β PET）评估。

结果

VSTMBT 的性能使我们能够将样本分为低绑定成本（LBC，N=21）和高绑定成本（HBC，N=18）。根据年龄[p=0.702]、受教育年限[0.071]和性别[p=0.291]进行分组。HBC 的表现与有症状的 AD 相当。各组仅在右腹侧流区域的 PET 淀粉样蛋白沉积方面存在差异，这些区域与视觉认知相关并在 AD 发病早期受到影响（枕叶皮质，p = 0.008；梭状回，p = 0.017；内嗅皮质，p = 0.046）。其他已知与低水平视觉整合功能相关的区域也显示 HBC 中淀粉样蛋白-β 沉积增加。

结论

VSTMB 缺陷与 AD 症状前最早受影响区域的神经发病机制（即β淀粉样蛋白沉积）有关。VSTMB 测试具有识别患有早期 AD 发病机制的认知未受损老年人的潜力，因此可能成为早期干预试验或其他形式的临床研究的有用工具。