| 1. |
- Lind, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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Reduced functional brain activity response in cognitively intact apolipoprotein E ε4 carriers
- 2006
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Ingår i: Brain. - : Oxford University Press. - 0006-8950 .- 1460-2156. ; 129:5, s. 1240-1248
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The apolipoprotein E epsilon4 (APOE epsilon4) is the main known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Genetic assessments in combination with other diagnostic tools, such as neuroimaging, have the potential to facilitate early diagnosis. In this large-scale functional MRI (fMRI) study, we have contrasted 30 APOE epsilon4 carriers (age range: 49-74 years; 19 females), of which 10 were homozygous for the epsilon4 allele, and 30 non-carriers with regard to brain activity during a semantic categorization task. Test groups were closely matched for sex, age and education. Critically, both groups were cognitively intact and thus symptom-free of Alzheimer's disease. APOE epsilon4 carriers showed reduced task-related responses in the left inferior parietal cortex, and bilaterally in the anterior cingulate region. A dose-related response was observed in the parietal area such that diminution was most pronounced in homozygous compared with heterozygous carriers. In addition, contrasts of processing novel versus familiar items revealed an abnormal response in the right hippocampus in the APOE epsilon4 group, mainly expressed as diminished sensitivity to the relative novelty of stimuli. Collectively, these findings indicate that genetic risk translates into reduced functional brain activity, in regions pertinent to Alzheimer's disease, well before alterations can be detected at the behavioural level.
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| 2. |
- Lind, Johanna, et al.
(författare)
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Reduced hippocampal volume in non-demented carriers fo the apolipoprotein E ε4 : Relation to chronological age and recognition memory
- 2006
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Ingår i: Neuroscience Letters. - : Elsevier BV. - 0304-3940 .- 1872-7972. ; 396:1, s. 23-27
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Apolipoprotein E ε4 (APOE ε4) is the main known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Some previous studies have reported structural brain changes as well as cognitive deficits in non-demented APOE ε4 carriers, but the pattern of results is inconsistent and studies with larger sample sizes have been called for. Here we compared hippocampal volume and recognition–memory performance between AD-symptom-free carriers (N = 30) and non-carriers (N = 30) of the APOE ε4 (age range: 49–79 years). We observed reduced right hippocampal volume in APOE ε4 carriers, and found that the difference was most pronounced before the age of 65. Further, the APOE ε4 carriers made significantly more false alarms in the recognition–memory test, and the number of false alarms correlated significantly with right hippocampus volume. These results indicate that relatively young individuals at genetic risk for AD have smaller hippocampal volume and lower performance on hippocampal-dependent cognitive tasks. A question for the future is whether smaller hippocampal volume represents early-onset hippocampal volume reduction or an inherent trait.
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| 3. |
- Persson, Jonas, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Altered brain white matter integrity in healthy carriers of the APOE epsilon4 allele : A risk for AD?
- 2006
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Ingår i: Neurology. - : Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). - 0028-3878 .- 1526-632X. ; 66, s. 1029-1033
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown that polymorphisms of apolipoprotein E (APOE) represent genetic risk factors for dementia and for cognitive impairment in the elderly. The neural mechanisms by which these genetic variations influence behavioral performance or clinical severity are not well understood.METHODS: The authors used diffusion tensor imaging to investigate ultrastructural properties in brain white matter to detect pathologic processes that modify tissue integrity. Sixty participants were included in the study of which 30 were homozygous for the APOE epsilon3 allele, 10 were homozygous for the APOE epsilon4 allele, and 20 had the APOE epsilon34 allele combination. All individuals were non-demented, and the groups were matched on demographic variables and cognitive performance.RESULTS: The results showed a decline in fractional anisotropy, a marker for white matter integrity, in the posterior corpus callosum of epsilon4 carriers compared to non-carriers. Additional sites of altered white matter integrity included the medial temporal lobe.CONCLUSIONS: Although the mechanism underlying vulnerability of white matter tracts in APOE epsilon4 carriers is still unknown, these findings suggest that increased genetic risk for developing Alzheimer disease is associated with changes in microscopic white matter integrity well before the onset of dementia.
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| 4. |
- Persson, Jonas, et al.
(författare)
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Altered deactivation in individuals with genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease
- 2008
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Ingår i: Neuropsychologia. - : Elsevier BV. - 0028-3932 .- 1873-3514. ; 46:6, s. 1679-1687
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Regions that show task-induced deactivations may be part of a default-mode network related to processes that are more engaged during passive than active task conditions. Alteration of task-induced deactivations with age and dementia is indicated by atypical engagement of default-mode network regions. Genetic studies show a relation between the apolipoprotein E4 (APOE4) allele and the common form of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and altered functional brain activation has been observed in non-demented APOE4 carriers compared to non-carriers. Here we investigate the hypothesis of altered default-mode network brain responses in individuals with genetic risk for AD. Functional MRI was used to assess task-induced deactivation in 60 subjects of which 30 carried at least one copy of the APOE4 allele, and 30 non-carriers. Subjects were scanned while performing a semantic categorization task shown to promote episodic memory encoding. The results show patterns of deactivation consistent with the default-mode network. We also found reduced deactivation in non-demented APOE4 carriers compared to non-carriers, suggesting alterations in the default-mode network in the absence of dementia. These results implicate possibilities for investigatin altered properties of task-induced deactivations in individuals with genetic risk for AD, and may prove useful for pre-clinical identification of individuals susceptible to memory problems and AD.
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