Deficits in short-term memory binding are detectable in individuals with brain amyloid deposition in the absence of overt neurodegeneration in the Alzheimer’s disease continuum

• Published in: Brain and cognition Vol. 152; p. 105749
• Main Authors: Cecchini, Mario Amore, Yassuda, Mônica Sanches, Squarzoni, Paula, Coutinho, Artur Martins, de Paula Faria, Daniele, Duran, Fábio Luiz de Souza, Costa, Naomi Antunes da, Porto, Fábio Henrique de Gobbi, Nitrini, Ricardo, Forlenza, Orestes Vicente, Brucki, Sonia Maria Dozzi, Buchpiguel, Carlos Alberto, Parra, Mario A., Busatto, Geraldo F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Amsterdam Elsevier Inc 01.08.2021; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid; Biomarkers; Cognitive ability; Dementia disorders; Memory; Mild cognitive impairment; Neurodegeneration; Neurodegenerative diseases; PET; Positron emission tomography; Sensitivity analysis; Short term memory; Short-term memory binding; Biomarkers; Short-term memory binding; Amyloid; Alzheimer’s disease; Mild cognitive impairment; PET
• ISSN: 0278-2626; 1090-2147
• DOI: 10.1016/j.bandc.2021.105749

•Participants with negative and positive brain amyloid deposition were compared.•Participants with positive amyloid had lower memory binding scores.•The STMB test was the only cognitive task that differentiated the A−N− and A+N− groups.•The STMB test may represent a cognitive marker of AD within the AD continuum. The short-term memory binding (STMB) test involves the ability to hold in memory the integration between surface features, such as shapes and colours. The STMB test has been used to detect Alzheimer’s disease (AD) at different stages, from preclinical to dementia, showing promising results. The objective of the present study was to verify whether the STMB test could differentiate patients with distinct biomarker profiles in the AD continuum. The sample comprised 18 cognitively unimpaired (CU) participants, 30 mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 23 AD patients. All participants underwent positron emission tomography (PET) with Pittsburgh compound-B labelled with carbon-11 ([11C]PIB) assessing amyloid beta (Aβ) aggregation (A) and 18fluorine-fluorodeoxyglucose ([18F]FDG)-PET assessing neurodegeneration (N) (A−N− [n = 35]); A+N− [n = 11]; A+ N+ [n = 19]). Participants who were negative and positive for amyloid deposition were compared in the absence (A−N− vs. A+N−) of neurodegeneration. When compared with the RAVLT and SKT memory tests, the STMB was the only cognitive task that differentiated these groups, predicting the group outcome in logistic regression analyses. The STMB test showed to be sensitive to the signs of AD pathology and may represent a cognitive marker within the AD continuum.