Face-name associative memory performance is related to amyloid burden in normal elderly

• Published in: Neuropsychologia Vol. 49; no. 9; pp. 2776 - 2783
• Main Authors: Rentz, Dorene M., Amariglio, Rebecca E., Becker, J. Alex, Frey, Meghan, Olson, Lauren E., Frishe, Katherine, Carmasin, Jeremy, Maye, Jacqueline E., Johnson, Keith A., Sperling, Reisa A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2011; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aging; Alzheimers Disease; Amyloid beta-Peptides - metabolism; Amyloid imaging; Aniline Compounds - metabolism; Association Learning - physiology; Associative Processes; Biological and medical sciences; Brain; Cerebral Cortex - metabolism; Cognition - physiology; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Dementia; Early detection; Elderly; Face; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Memory; Memory Disorders - diagnosis; Memory Disorders - metabolism; Neurology; Normal aging; Organic mental disorders. Neuropsychology; Positron Emission Tomography; Preclinical Alzheimer's disease; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Reference Values; Retention, Psychology - physiology; Thiazoles - metabolism; Verbal Learning - physiology; Normal aging; Preclinical Alzheimer's disease; Early detection; Amyloid imaging; Human; Nervous system diseases; Senescence; Alzheimer disease; Cognition; Cerebral disorder; Associative memory; β Amyloid protein; Central nervous system disease; Medical imagery; Early; Degenerative disease; Face; Performance; Elderly; Emission tomography
• ISSN: 0028-3932; 1873-3514; 1873-3514
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.06.006

Cerebral amyloid beta (Aβ) deposition occurs in a substantial fraction of cognitively normal (CN) older individuals. However, it has been difficult to reliably detect evidence of amyloid-related cognitive alterations in CN using standard neuropsychological measures. We sought to determine whether a highly demanding face-name associative memory exam (FNAME) could detect evidence of Aβ-related memory impairment in CN. We studied 45 CN subjects (mean age=71.7±8.8) with Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores=0 and MMSE≥28, using Positron Emission Tomography with Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB PET). Memory factor scores were derived from a principal components analysis for FNAME name retrieval (FN-N), FNAME occupation retrieval (FN-O) and the 6-Trial Selective Reminding Test (SRT). Using multiple linear and logistic regression analyses, we related the memory factor scores to PiB distribution volume ratios (DVR, cerebellar reference) as either a continuous or a dichotomous variable in frontal cortex and a posterior cortical region representing the precuneus, posterior cingulate and lateral parietal cortices (PPCLP), co-varying for age and AMNART IQ (a proxy of cognitive reserve (CR)). A significant inverse relationship for FN-N was found with Aβ deposition in frontal (R2=0.29, β=−2.2, p=0.02) and PPCLP cortices (R2=0.26, β=−2.4, p=0.05). In contrast, neither FN-O nor the SRT were significantly related to Aβ deposition. Performance on a demanding test of face-name associative memory was related to Aβ burden in brain regions associated with memory systems. Associative memory for faces and names, a common complaint among older adults, may be a sensitive marker of early Aβ-related impairment.