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P1‐327: LONGITUDINAL DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS AND CORTICAL AMYLOID ARE ASSOCIATED WITH COGNITIVE DECLINE IN OLDER ADULTS
Author(s) -
Gatchel Jennifer R.,
Rabin Jennifer S.,
Buckley Rachel F.,
Locascio Joseph J.,
Quiroz Yakeel T.,
Vannini Patrizia,
Amariglio Rebecca,
Rentz Dorene M.,
Johnson Keith A.,
Blacker Deborah,
Donovan Nancy J.,
Sperling Reisa A.,
Marshall Gad A.
Publication year - 2018
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.2018.06.334
Subject(s) - geriatric depression scale , longitudinal study , amyloid (mycology) , depression (economics) , medicine , cognitive decline , depressive symptoms , cognition , disease , alzheimer's disease , pittsburgh compound b , oncology , gerontology , dementia , psychiatry , pathology , economics , macroeconomics
Background:Recent advances in technology have enabled the digitizing of the traditional Clock Drawing Test by a video-equipped pen to record the entire test taking process followed by applying a scoring algorithm to extract hidden signals and to generate standardized reports for analysis. This has led to the development of DCTclock by Digital Cognition Technologies as a potential tool in the screening phase of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) clinical trials. This study aims to evaluate DCTclock performance compared with existing cognitive screening tools and to investigate its associations with atrophy, amyloid and tau pathology. Methods: Participants were screened for inclusion into an AD clinical trial across sites in US, UK and Japan. Subjects were assessed for cognitive status as well as brain atrophy, amyloid and tau pathology, depending on progress in screening. Cognitive status was evaluated with DCTclock, MMSE, FCSRT and CDR-SB. DCTclock uses a video tracking pen and automated scoring algorithm that reports total score for both command and copy components, as well as subscores representing functional areas including drawing efficiency, information processing, motor, and spatial reasoning. Anatomical MRI scans were processed in FreeSurfer v5.3 and vertex-wise statistical maps assessing relationships between cortical thickness and DCTclock scores were generated using FreeSurfer’s Query, Design, Estimate, Contrast interface. A weighted SUVR was calculated in [18F]-Flortaucipir PET images to measure global tau load. Relationships between DCTclock metrics and the other measures were assessed with Spearman correlations and linear regression analyses. Results: High correlations between DCTclock COPY test for information processing and both cognitive tests and cortical thickness were observed. Cognitive assessments all had similar distributions by amyloid status. Information processing in the copy test also correlated with global PET Tau signal. Conclusions:These results suggest that DCTclock is associated with other cognitive tests and information processing scored in the copy clock test may be the most relevant DCTclock score in screening AD subjects for entry into clinical trials. As with previous studies, DCTclock shows some associations with regional atrophy as well as pathology measured with PET but larger studies are warranted to verify these findings. Future work will investigate longitudinal measurements and test/re-test validity of the results.