RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 LONG-TERM FORGETTING IN PRECLINICAL FAMILIAL ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
JF Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry
JO J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e1
OP e1
DO 10.1136/jnnp-2016-315106.18
VO 87
IS 12
A1 Philip Weston
A1 Yuying Liang
A1 Susie Henley
A1 Jennifer Nicholas
A1 Natalie Ryan
A1 Jonathan Schott
A1 Martin Rossor
A1 Christopher Butler
A1 Adam Zeman
A1 Nick Fox
YR 2016
UL http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/87/12/e1.90.abstract
AB In Alzheimer's disease (AD), detecting presymptomatic cognitive change has proven difficult. Accelerated long-term forgetting has been identified in other diseases involving the temporal lobe, in individuals who perform normally on standard cognitive testing. We assessed whether accelerated long-term forgetting is a feature of presymptomatic familial AD (FAD).We recruited 21 asymptomatic carriers of autosomal dominant FAD mutations (mean years to predicted onset=7.2) and 11 non-carrier controls. Participants were assessed on three memory tasks: list recall, story recall and figure recall. Participants had to first learn the material, to recall it 30 minutes later, and then again after 7 days. Subjective memory was assessed using the Everyday Memory Questionnaire.For each test, mutation carriers and non-carriers were very similar for initial learning and 30-minute recall. However, recall at 7 days was significantly reduced in mutation carriers compared to non-carriers, for list recall (p=0.0011), story recall (p=0.012) and figure recall (p=0.021). Subjective memory scores were significantly poorer in mutation carriers than non-carriers (p=0.0163).Accelerated long-term forgetting of both verbal and non-verbal material is an early, preclinical, feature of FAD; and may be the earliest feature of AD-related cognitive decline. Accelerated long-term forgetting may underpin early, subtle, subjective cognitive changes.