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. 2012 Oct;50(12):2880-2886.
doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2012.08.011. Epub 2012 Aug 23.

Subjective cognitive complaints and amyloid burden in cognitively normal older individuals

Rebecca E Amariglio  1 , J Alex Becker  2 , Jeremy Carmasin  2 , Lauren P Wadsworth  3 , Natacha Lorius  4 , Caroline Sullivan  3 , Jacqueline E Maye  2 , Christopher Gidicsin  2 , Lesley C Pepin  2 , Reisa A Sperling  4 , Keith A Johnson  5 , Dorene M Rentz  4
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Subjective cognitive complaints and amyloid burden in cognitively normal older individuals

Rebecca E Amariglio et al. Neuropsychologia. 2012 Oct.

Abstract

Accumulating evidence suggests that subjective cognitive complaints (SCC) may indicate subtle cognitive decline characteristic of individuals with preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we sought to build upon previous studies by associating SCC and amyloid-β deposition using positron emission tomography with Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB-PET) in cognitively normal older individuals. One-hundred thirty one subjects (mean age 73.5±6) were administered three subjective cognitive questionnaires and a brief neuropsychological battery. A relationship between a subjective memory complaints composite score and cortical PiB binding was found to be significant, even after controlling for depressive symptoms. By contrast, there were no significant relationships between objective cognitive measures of memory and executive functions and cortical PiB binding. Our study suggests that SCC may be an early indicator of AD pathology detectable prior to significant objective impairment.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scatterplot of PiB retention by subjective memory complaints composite (SMC composite). Higher scores on SMC composite indicate higher SCC.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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