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P4‐056: Abeta 42‐1 correlates with learning potential as measured by a plasticity‐based test approach
Author(s) -
Uttner Ingo,
Schurig Niklas,
Arnim Christine,
LangeAsschenfeldt Christian,
Tumani Hayrettin,
Riepe Matthias
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
alzheimer's and dementia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.713
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1552-5279
pISSN - 1552-5260
DOI - 10.1016/j.jalz.2009.04.825
Subject(s) - medicine , psychology , association (psychology) , cerebrospinal fluid , correlation , cognition , cognitive impairment , neuroplasticity , neuroscience , geometry , mathematics , psychotherapist
Background: Abeta-amyloid 1-42 (abeta) and tau-protein (t-tau) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been identified as powerful biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Whereas t-tau seems to reflect the intensity of the neurodegenerative process, abeta is believed to diminish cognitive plasticity by disrupting synaptic function. For further evaluation, we assess cognitive capacity of 15 patients suspicious for having AD (MMSE score, median: 26.5) and of 14 controls (MMSE: 30.0), and its association to abeta and ttau. Methods: A recognition paradigm consisting of a pre-test (baseline) and two post-tests was administered. After pre-test, subjects were instructed to use a memory strategy. As measure of performance recognition failures were recorded. CSF t-tau and abeta levels were determined using a sandwich ELISA (Innogenetics; Zwijndrecht, Belgium). Levels of >300ng/L (t-tau) and of < 550 ng/L (abeta) were regarded as conspicuous. Results: At alpha1⁄45 %, there were significant group differences for the abeta and t-tau concentrations (p1⁄40.004 respective p1⁄40.003; U-Test), with levels (median) of abeta1⁄4532 ng/L and tau1⁄4399 ng/L in the AD, and abeta1⁄4993 ng/L and tau1⁄4189 ng/L in the control group. Correlation analysis (Spearman-Rho) reveals significant association between abeta and the post-test failures (p1⁄40.047 and p1⁄40.012), but not with the pre-test performance (p1⁄40.091). No association was found for t-tau (p-range1⁄40.406-0.900). Conclusions: Our findings support the importance of abeta in mediating cognitive plasticity. The selective correlation of abeta with test conditions that focus on the potential range of cognitive abilities suggests that plasticity based procedures are more suitable to detect early cognitive alterations than status-oriented tests.