Premium
The APOE ∍4 allele Is Associated with Decline on Delayed Recall Performance in Community‐Dwelling Older Adults
Author(s) -
O'Hara Ruth,
Yesavage Jerome A.,
Kraemer Helena C.,
Mauricio Maritess,
Friedman Leah F.,
Murphy Greer M.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1998.tb01532.x
Subject(s) - apolipoprotein e , medicine , recall , cognition , gerontology , cognitive decline , genotype , effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance , verbal memory , longitudinal study , dementia , audiology , psychology , psychiatry , genetics , pathology , disease , cognitive psychology , biology , gene
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated whether the Apolipoprotein (APOE) ∍4 allele was associated with cognitive decline in community‐dwelling older adults. DESIGN : Longitudinal cognitive performance of older adults with the ∍3/∍4 genotype was compared with that of older adults with the ∍3/∍3 genotype. SETTING : Aging Clinical Research Center, Stanford University. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred community‐dwelling older adults were recruited from a pool of 531 individuals who had participated in a memory training study 4 to 5 years earlier. These individuals were concerned about their memory functioning and were recruited through newspaper advertisements and contacts with local senior centers. The 100 individuals who agreed to participate in the follow‐up investigation were between 59 and 95 years of age. MEASUREMENTS : At both baseline and follow‐up, subjects were administered a battery of seven cognitive tests that examined verbal and spatial memory, attention, speed‐of‐processing, and language abilities. APOE genotype was determined at follow‐up. RESULTS : Individuals with the ∍3/∍4 APOE genotype were significantly younger than individuals with the APOE ∍3/∍3 genotype. No significant differences were observed between the two groups on measures of attention, speed‐of‐processing, vocabulary, immediate verbal memory, and immediate spatial memory. However, those older adults with the ∍3/∍4 genotype exhibited significantly greater decline in performance on delayed recall of verbal material than did those with the ∍3/∍3 APOE genotype. CONCLUSION : These findings are consistent with previous studies, which suggest that the APOE ∍4 allele predicts decline on measures of delayed recall.