Alzheimers Pathology Related To Episodic Memory In Those Wit

Subtle memory deficits often ascribed to 'normal aging' appear to be early signs of Alzheimer's disease according to new research by the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago. Researchers studying older men and women who do not have dementia or mild cognitive impairment found that those with Alzheimer's pathology, or the brain changes associated with the disease, did score lower on tests of episodic memory. The study is published in the June 27 issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The study evaluated 134 older men and women who didn't have cognitive impairment at the time of their death. Participants came from the Religious Orders Study and the Memory and Aging Project. Both are longitudinal, clinical-pathologic studies of older persons without dementia who underwent annual clinical evaluations and several cognitive performance tests. After they died, their brains had autopsies.

More than a third of the participants (50) met criteria for a pathologic diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. Criteria included lesions of brain tissue on the autopsy. Scores on the Mini Mental State Examination, an assessment of cognitive mental status, were nearly identical for participants with and without a pathologic diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. However, the group with a pathologic diagnosis scored lower than the other participants on tests for episodic memory, such as recalling stories and word lists.

"The results provide evidence in support of the idea that some type of neural reserve can allow a large number of older persons to tolerate a significant amount of Alzheimer's pathology without manifesting obvious dementia," said study author Dr. David A. Bennett, director of the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center.

While all of the study participants appeared cognitively intact and were highly functional, the data suggests that even slight impairment of episodic memory in older persons may signify the presence of Alzheimer's pathology. From a public health perspective, the number of people with Alzheimer's is probably much larger than current estimates, said Bennett.

"This study questions the acceptability of minor episodic memory loss in older adults as 'normal'," said Dr.Carol F. Lippa, director of the Memory Disorders Program at Drexel University College of Medicine, who wrote an editorial in the same issue of Neurology. "Maybe this early decline in episodic memory precedes mild cognitive impairment and should be the target of research efforts in the early detection of Alzheimer's disease."

The Rush researchers are extremely grateful for the remarkable dedication and altruism of the volunteers participating in the Rush Memory and Aging Project and the Religious Orders Study. The research was supported by grants from the National Institute on Aging, which leads the Federal effort to support and conduct basic, clinical, and social and behavioral studies on aging and on Alzheimer's disease.

http://www.rush.edu
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Alzheimers Pathology Related To Episodic Memory In Those Wit