Parietal cortex activation predicts memory decline in... : NeuroReport (original) (raw)

AGEING

Parietal cortex activation predicts memory decline in _apolipoprotein E_-εε4 carriers

Lind, Johannaa; Ingvar, Martina; Persson, Jonasc e; Sleegers, Kristelf; Van Broeckhoven, Christinef; Adolfsson, Rolfd; Nilsson, Lars-Göranb; Nyberg, Larsc

aDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, MR Research Center, Karolinska Hospital

bDepartment of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm

cDepartment of Psychology

dClinical Sciences and Psychiatry, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden

eDepartment of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

fDepartment of Molecular Genetics, Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium

Correspondence and requests for reprints to Johanna Lind, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, MR Research Center, Karolinska Hospital N-8, 171 76, Stockholm, Sweden

Tel: +46 8 5177 61 08; fax: +46 8 5177 32 66; e-mail: [email protected]

Sponsorship: This work was supported by grants from the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation (J2001-0683:3), the Swedish Research Council (2003-5810), Fund for Scientific Research Flanders (FWO) and Stiftelsen för Gamla Tjänarinnor. The Betula Study from where participants were recruited is funded by the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation (1988-0082:17, J2001-0682), Swedish Council for Planning and Coordination of Research (D1988-0092, D1989-0115, D1990-0074, D1991-0258, D1992-0143, D1997-0756, D1997-1841, D1999-0739, B1999-474), Swedish Council for Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences (F377/1988-2000), the Swedish Council for Social Research (1988–1990: 88-0082 and 311/1991–2000) and the Swedish Research Council (2001-6654, 2002-3794, 2003-3883).

Received 31 May 2006; revised 10 July 2006; accepted 11 July 2006

Abstract

_Apolipoprotein E_-ε4 is the main known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Functional abnormalities in the parietal cortex have been reported for Alzheimer's disease patients and also for those at risk. Hence, a critical question is whether measurements of parietal cortex integrity may predict negative outcome among at-risk persons. We studied nondemented _apolipoprotein E_-ε4 carriers and found a significant relationship between parietal blood-oxygen-level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging response during a word categorization task and subsequent episodic memory performance. Thus, the results show that parietal cortex alterations predict memory decline in nondemented _apolipoprotein E_-ε4 carriers, and hence likely progression to Alzheimer's disease.