Estimates of age-related memory decline are inflated by unrecognized Alzheimer's disease

KD Harrington; A Schembri; YY Lim; C Dang; D Ames; J Hassenstab; SM Laws; S Rainey-Smith; J Robertson; CC Rowe; HR Sohrabi; O Salvado; M Weinborn; VL Villemagne; CL Masters; P Maruff

Journal article

Estimates of age-related memory decline are inflated by unrecognized Alzheimer's disease

KD Harrington, A Schembri, YY Lim, C Dang, D Ames, J Hassenstab, SM Laws, S Rainey-Smith, J Robertson, CC Rowe, HR Sohrabi, O Salvado, M Weinborn, VL Villemagne, CL Masters, P Maruff

Neurobiology of Aging | ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC | Published : 2018

DOI: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2018.06.005

Abstract

Cognitive decline is considered an inevitable consequence of aging; however, estimates of cognitive aging may be influenced negatively by undetected preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD). This study aimed to determine the extent to which estimates of cognitive aging were biased by preclinical AD. Cognitively normal older adults (n = 494) with amyloid-β status determined from positron emission tomography neuroimaging underwent serial neuropsychological assessment at 18-month intervals over 72 months. Estimates of the effects of age on verbal memory, working memory, executive function, and processing speed were derived using linear mixed models. The presence of preclinical AD and clinical progr..

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University of Melbourne Researchers

David Ames Author

Christopher Rowe Author

Victor Villemagne Author

Paul Maruff Author

Grants

Funding Acknowledgements

KDH received a PhD Scholarship cofunded by the Alzheimer's Australia Dementia Research Foundation and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. The authors acknowledge the financial support of the CRC for Mental Health. The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) program is an Australian Government Initiative.Funding for the AIBL study was provided in part by the study partners [Australian Commonwealth Scientific Industrial and Research Organization (CSIRO), Edith Cowan University (ECU), Mental Health Research Institute (MHRI), Alzheimer's Australia (AA), National Ageing Research Institute (NARI), Austin Health, CogState Ltd, Hollywood Private Hospital, Sir Charles Gardner Hospital]. The study also received support from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Dementia Collaborative Research Centres program (DCRC2), as well as ongoing funding from the Science and Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF).