Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-mlc7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-17T00:19:54.116Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Self-reported memory impairment and brain PET of amyloid and tau in middle-aged and older adults without dementia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 February 2012

David A. Merrill ,
Prabha Siddarth ,
Nathan Y. Saito ,
Linda M. Ercoli ,
Alison C. Burggren ,
Vladimir Kepe ,
Helen Lavretsky ,
Karen J. Miller ,
Jeanne Kim  and
S. C. Huang
...Show all authors
David A. Merrill*
Affiliation:
Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, and Longevity Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Prabha Siddarth
Affiliation:
Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, and Longevity Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Nathan Y. Saito
Affiliation:
Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, and Longevity Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Linda M. Ercoli
Affiliation:
Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, and Longevity Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Alison C. Burggren
Affiliation:
Center for Cognitive Neurosciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Vladimir Kepe
Affiliation:
Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Helen Lavretsky
Affiliation:
Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, and Longevity Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Karen J. Miller
Affiliation:
Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, and Longevity Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Jeanne Kim
Affiliation:
Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, and Longevity Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
S. C. Huang
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Susan Y. Bookheimer
Affiliation:
Center for Cognitive Neurosciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA Brain Mapping Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Jorge R. Barrio
Affiliation:
Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
Gary W. Small
Affiliation:
Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, David Geffen School of Medicine, and Longevity Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: David A. Merrill, MD, PhD, Assistant Clinical Professor, Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience & Human Behavior, 760 Westwood Plaza, Room 38-231, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Phone: +1 310-267-0274; Fax: +1 310-825-3910. Email: [email protected].
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background: Whether perceived changes in memory parallel changes in brain pathology is uncertain. Positron emission tomography (PET) scans using 2-(1-{6-[(2-[F-18]fluoroethyl)(methyl)amino]-2-naphthyl}ethylidene)malononitrile (FDDNP) can measure levels of amyloid plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles in vivo. Here we investigate whether degree of self-reported memory impairment is associated with FDDNP-PET binding levels in persons without dementia.

Methods: Fifty-seven middle-aged and older adults without dementia (mean age ±standard deviation = 66.3 ± 10.6 years), including 25 with normal aging and 32 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), were assessed. The outcome measures were the four factor scores of the Memory Functioning Questionnaire (MFQ) (frequency of forgetting, seriousness of forgetting, retrospective functioning, and mnemonics use) and FDDNP-PET binding levels in medial temporal, lateral temporal, posterior cingulate, parietal, frontal, and global (overall average) regions of interest.

Results: After controlling for age, higher reported frequency of forgetting was associated with greater medial temporal (r = −0.29, p = 0.05), parietal (r = −0.30, p = 0.03), frontal (r = −0.35, p = 0.01), and global FDDNP-PET binding levels (r = −0.33, p = 0.02). The remaining MFQ factor scores were not significantly associated with FDDNP-PET binding levels, and no significant differences were found between normal aging and MCI subjects. Item analysis of the frequency of forgetting factor revealed five questions that yielded similar results as the full 32-question scale (r = −0.52, p = 0.0002).

Conclusions: These findings suggest that some forms of memory self-awareness, in particular the reported frequency of forgetting, may reflect the extent of cerebral amyloid and tau brain pathology.

Keywords

agingneuroimagingcognitive testingMCIsubjective cognitive impairmentbeta-amyloid plaquestau neurofibrillary tanglesFDDNP
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 24 , Issue 7 , July 2012 , pp. 1076 - 1084
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Amariglio, R. E., Townsend, M. K., Grodstein, F., Sperling, R. A. and Rentz, D. M. (2011). Specific subjective memory complaints in older persons may indicate poor cognitive function. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 59, 1612–1617. doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.2011.03543.x.Google Scholar
Bassett, S. S. and Folstein, M. F. (1993). Memory complaint, memory performance, and psychiatric diagnosis: a community study. Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology, 6, 105–111.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blazer, D. G., Hays, J. C., Fillenbaum, G. G. and Gold, D. T. (1997). Memory complaint as a predictor of cognitive decline: a comparison of African American and White elders. Journal of Aging and Health, 9, 171–184.Google Scholar
Braak, H. and Braak, E. (1991). Neuropathological stageing of Alzheimer-related changes. Acta Neuropathologica, 82, 239–259.Google Scholar
Delacourte, A. et al. (1999). The biochemical pathway of neurofibrillary degeneration in aging and Alzheimer's disease. Neurology, 52, 1158–1165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ercoli, L. et al. (2006). Perceived loss of memory ability and cerebral metabolic decline in persons with the apolipoprotein E-IV genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63, 442–448. doi: 63/4/442 [pii] 10.1001/archpsyc.63.4.442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ercoli, L. M. et al. (2009). Differential FDDNP PET patterns in nondemented middle-aged and older adults. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 17, 397–406. doi: 10.1097/JGP.0b013e318198750b 00019442-200905000-00007 [pii].CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gilewski, M. J., Zelinski, E. M. and Schaie, K. W. (1990). The memory functioning questionnaire for assessment of memory complaints in adulthood and old age. Psychology and Aging, 5, 482–490.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jessen, F. et al. (2010). Prediction of dementia by subjective memory impairment: effects of severity and temporal association with cognitive impairment. Archives of General Psychiatry, 67, 414–422. doi: 67/4/414 [pii] 10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.30.Google Scholar
Jonker, C., Geerlings, M. I. and Schmand, B. (2000). Are memory complaints predictive for dementia? A review of clinical and population-based studies. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 15, 983–991. doi: 10.1002/1099-1166(200011)15:11<983:AID-GPS238>3.0.CO; 2-5[pii].Google Scholar
Jorm, A. F., Christensen, H., Korten, A. E., Henderson, A. S., Jacomb, P. A. and Mackinnon, A. (1997). Do cognitive complaints either predict future cognitive decline or reflect past cognitive decline? A longitudinal study of an elderly community sample. Psychological Medicine, 27, 91–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kepe, V. et al. (2006). Serotonin 1A receptors in the living brain of Alzheimer's disease patients. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 103, 702–707. doi: 0510237103 [pii] 10.1073/pnas.0510237103.Google Scholar
Liu, J. et al. (2007). High-yield, automated radiosynthesis of 2-(1-{6-[(2-[18F]fluoroethyl)(methyl)amino]-2-naphthyl}ethylidene)malononi trile ([18F]FDDNP) ready for animal or human administration. Molecular Imaging and Biology, 9, 6–16. doi: 10.1007/s11307-006-0061-4.Google Scholar
Logan, J., Fowler, J. S., Volkow, N. D., Wang, G. J., Ding, Y. S. and Alexoff, D. L. (1996). Distribution volume ratios without blood sampling from graphical analysis of PET data. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 16, 834–840. doi: 10.1097/00004647-199609000-00008.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Merema, M. R., Speelman, C. P., Kaczmarek, E. A. and Foster, J. K. (2011). Age and premorbid intelligence suppress complaint-performance congruency in raw score measures of memory. International Psychogeriatrics, Epublished ahead of print, doi: 10.1017/S1041610211001918.Google ScholarPubMed
Minett, T. S., Dean, J. L., Firbank, M., English, P. and O'Brien, J. T. (2005). Subjective memory complaints, white-matter lesions, depressive symptoms, and cognition in elderly patients. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 13, 665–671. doi: 13/8/665 [pii] 10.1176/appi.ajgp.13.8.665.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pike, K. E. et al. (2011). Cognition and beta-amyloid in preclinical Alzheimer's disease: data from the AIBL study. Neuropsychologia, 49, 2384–2390. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.04.012.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reisberg, B. et al. (2008). The pre-mild cognitive impairment, subjective cognitive impairment stage of Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 4, S98–S108. doi: S1552-5260(07)00658-9 [pii] 10.1016/j.jalz.2007.11.017.Google Scholar
Rodda, J., Okello, A., Edison, P., Dannhauser, T., Brooks, D. J. and Walker, Z. (2010). (11)C-PIB PET in subjective cognitive impairment. European Psychiatry, 25, 123–125. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2009.07.011.Google Scholar
Rowe, C. C. et al. (2010). Amyloid imaging results from the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study of aging. Neurobiology of Aging, 31, 1275–1283. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2010.04.007.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saykin, A. J. et al. (2006). Older adults with cognitive complaints show brain atrophy similar to that of amnestic MCI. Neurology, 67, 834–842. doi: 67/5/834 [pii] 10.1212/01.wnl.0000234032.77541.a2.Google Scholar
Small, G. W., Stern, C. E., Mandelkern, M. A., Fairbanks, L. A., Min, C. A. and Guze, B. H. (1992). Reliability of drawing regions of interest for positron emission tomographic data. Psychiatry Research, 45, 177–185.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Small, G. W. et al. (1994). Age-associated memory loss: initial neuropsychological and cerebral metabolic findings of a longitudinal study. International Psychogeriatrics, 6, 23–44; discussion 60–62.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Small, G. W., Komo, S., La Rue, A., Kaplan, A. and Mandelkern, M. A. (1995). Memory self-appraisal and cerebral glucose metabolism in age-associated memory impairment. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 3, 132–143.Google Scholar
Small, G. W. et al. (2006). PET of brain amyloid and tau in mild cognitive impairment. New England Journal of Medicine, 355, 2652–2663. doi: 355/25/2652 [pii] 10.1056/NEJMoa054625.Google Scholar
Smith, G. E., Petersen, R. C., Parisi, J. E. and Ivnik, R. J. (1996). Definition, course and outcome of mild cognitive impairment. Aging, Neuropsychology and Cognition, 3, 141–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sperling, R. A. et al. (2011). Toward defining the preclinical stages of Alzheimer's disease: recommendations from the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer's Association workgroups on diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 7, 280–292. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2011.03.003.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Striepens, N. et al. (2010). Volume loss of the medial temporal lobe structures in subjective memory impairment. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 29, 75–81. doi: 000264630 [pii] 10.1159/000264630.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Talairach, J. and Tournoux, P. (1988). Coplanar Stereotaxic Atlas of the Human Brain. Three-Dimensional Proportional System: An Approach to Cerebral Imaging. New York: Thieme.Google Scholar
Zelinski, E. M., Gilewski, M. J. and Anthony-Bergstone, C. R. (1990). Memory Functioning Questionnaire: concurrent validity with memory performance and self-reported memory failures. Psychology and Aging, 5, 388–399.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed