Emergence of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Late Middle-Aged Adults in the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention

Abstract

Aim: It is difficult to reliably detect the earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease (AD)-associated cognitive impairment. Our aim was to compare 3 psychometric methods of identifying amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) in a middle-aged longitudinal cohort enriched for AD risk. Methods: Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention (WRAP) participants with 3 waves of cognitive assessment over approximately 6 years were coded as meeting each of 3 psychometric aMCI definitions: (a) ‘aMCI standard-baseline' used published norms to establish cutoffs for baseline performance; (b) ‘aMCI robust-baseline' applied WRAP-specific robust norms to baseline, and (c) ‘aMCI robust-multiwave' applied these robust norms across 3 waves of assessment. Each group was compared to a cognitively healthy subset. Results: Half the aMCI standard-baseline and one third of the aMCI robust-baseline group reverted to normal ranges at follow-up. Only the aMCI robust-multiwave method had an aMCI × age interaction showing significantly worse age-related memory declines in the aMCI group compared to the cognitively healthy group over 6 years of follow-up. Conclusion: Both cross-sectional methods showed instability over time, with many reverting to normal performance after baseline. The multiwave approach identified a group who showed progressive memory declines over 3 visits. Being able to detect progressive decline in late middle age is a critical step in improving prevention efforts.

Physical activity attenuates age-related biomarker alterations in preclinical AD

“…Participants completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery that has been previously shown to segregate into 6 cognitive factors 28,29 : Immediate Memory Test, and Reading subtest of the Wide-Range Achievement Test3rd edition). To minimize multiple comparisons, these factor scores, rather than the component cognitive tests, were interrogated in the present analyses.…”

Reversion From Mild Cognitive Impairment to Normal Cognition

“…The vast majority of the studies had higher proportions of females, both in the total samples and within the aMCI groups, while the age at baseline for aMCI cases in most of the studies was between 70 and 79 with an average of approximately 75. 9,10,13,15,[18][19][20][22][23][24][26][27][28][29][30][31][32]34,35 The extent to which these demographic factors contributed to the observed heterogeneity of this study is unclear; however, studies with older individuals are likely to see lower reversion rates as both age-related cognitive decline and the risk for developing AD both increase with age. The heterogeneity among studies may also be associated with their respective attrition rates.…”

Longitudinal Assessment of Self- and Informant-Subjective Cognitive Complaints in a Sample of Healthy Late-Middle Aged Adults Enriched with a Family History of Alzheimer’s Disease

“…To verify the diagnosis of AD in the parent, parental medical records, autopsy reports, or results of the dementia questionnaire (Kawas, Segal, Stewart, Corrada, & Thal, 1994) were obtained and reviewed by a multidisciplinary diagnostic consensus conference (Jonaitis et al, 2013; Koscik et al, 2014; Sager et al, 2005). Absence of FH of AD was verified through detailed medical history surveys and phone interview with the participants.…”