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Anxiety symptoms, cerebral amyloid burden and memory decline in healthy older adults without dementia: 3-year prospective cohort study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Robert H. Pietrzak ,
J. Cobb Scott ,
Alexander Neumeister ,
Yen Ying Lim ,
David Ames ,
Kathryn A. Ellis ,
Karra Harrington ,
Nicola T. Lautenschlager ,
Cassandra Szoeke  and
Ralph N. Martins
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Robert H. Pietrzak*
Affiliation:
United States Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Clinical Neurosciences Division, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven and Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
J. Cobb Scott
Affiliation:
United States Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Clinical Neurosciences Division, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, West Haven and Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, USA
Alexander Neumeister
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Radiology, New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA
Yen Ying Lim
Affiliation:
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
David Ames
Affiliation:
Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, St Vincent's Health, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Kew and National Ageing Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Kathryn A. Ellis
Affiliation:
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, St Vincent's Health, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Kew and National Ageing Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Karra Harrington
Affiliation:
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Nicola T. Lautenschlager
Affiliation:
Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, St Vincent's Health, Department of Psychiatry, The University of Melbourne, Kew, Victoria and School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences and WA Centre for Health & Ageing, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Australia
Cassandra Szoeke
Affiliation:
National Ageing Research Institute, Parkville, Mental Health Research Institute, The University of Melbourne, Parkville and CSIRO Preventative Health Flagship, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Ralph N. Martins
Affiliation:
Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease Research and Care, School of Exercise, Biomedical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Colin L. Masters
Affiliation:
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
Victor L. Villemagne
Affiliation:
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, Department of Nuclear Medicine and Centre for PET, Austin Health and Department of Medicine, Austin Health, The University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
Christopher C. Rowe
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Medicine and Centre for PET, Austin Health and Department of Medicine, Austin Health, The University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia
Paul Maruff
Affiliation:
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, Parkville, and Cog state Ltd, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
Robert H. Pietrzak, PhD, MPH, National Center for PTSD, VA Connecticut Healthcare System, 950 Campbell Ave 161E, West Haven, Connecticut, USA. Email: [email protected]
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Summary

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Although beta-amyloid, anxiety and depression have been linked cross-sectionally to reduced memory function in healthy older adults without dementia, prospective data evaluating these associations are lacking. Using data from an observational cohort study of 178 healthy older adults without dementia followed for 3 years, we found that anxiety symptoms significantly moderated the relationship between beta-amyloid level and decline in verbal (Cohen's d = 0.65) and episodic (Cohen's d = 0.38) memory. Anxiety symptoms were additionally linked to greater decline in executive function, irrespective of beta-amyloid and other risk factors. These findings suggest that interventions to mitigate anxiety symptoms may help delay memory decline in otherwise healthy older adults with elevated beta-amyloid.

Type
Short reports
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 204 , Issue 5 , May 2014 , pp. 400 - 401
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2014 

Footnotes

Declaration of interest

None.

References

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