Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jul 7;85(1):56-62.
doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000001712. Epub 2015 Jun 5.

Subjective cognitive concerns, amyloid-β, and neurodegeneration in clinically normal elderly

Rebecca E Amariglio  1 , Elizabeth C Mormino  2 , Alison C Pietras  2 , Gad A Marshall  2 , Patrizia Vannini  2 , Keith A Johnson  2 , Reisa A Sperling  2 , Dorene M Rentz  2
Affiliations

Subjective cognitive concerns, amyloid-β, and neurodegeneration in clinically normal elderly

Rebecca E Amariglio et al. Neurology. .

Abstract

Objective: To determine whether neuroimaging biomarkers of amyloid-β (Aβ) and neurodegeneration (ND) are associated with greater self-reported subjective cognitive concerns (SCC) in clinically normal older individuals.

Methods: A total of 257 participants underwent Pittsburgh compound B PET, PET with fluorodeoxyglucose (18)F, and structural MRI, as well as a battery of neuropsychological measures including several questionnaires regarding SCC. Individuals were classified into 4 biomarker groups: biomarker negative (Aβ-/ND-), amyloidosis alone (Aβ+/ND-), amyloidosis plus ND (Aβ+/ND+), and ND alone (Aβ-/ND+).

Results: Both Aβ and ND were independently associated with greater SCC controlling for objective memory performance. By contrast, neither Aβ nor ND was associated with objective memory performance controlling for SCC. Further examination revealed greater SCC in individuals with Aβ or ND positivity compared to biomarker-negative individuals. In addition, greater SCC predicted Aβ positivity when controlling for ND status.

Conclusions: When individuals were grouped by biomarker status, those who were positive on Aβ or ND had the highest report of SCC compared to biomarker-negative individuals. Findings were consistent when SCC was used to predict Aβ positivity. Taken together, results suggest that both Aβ and ND are associated with SCC, independent of objective memory performance. Enrichment of individuals with SCC may increase likelihood of Aβ and ND markers in potential participants for secondary prevention trials.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure
Figure. Comparison of subjective cognitive concerns across biomarker stages defined by amyloid-β and neurodegeneration
Stage 0: amyloid-β-negative/neurodegeneration-negative; stage 1: amyloid-β-positive/neurodegeneration-negative; stage 2: amyloid-β-positive/neurodegeneration-positive; suspected non-Alzheimer pathology (SNAP): amyloid-β-negative/neurodegeneration-positive. Stage 2 is associated with the greatest subjective cognitive concerns (SCC) compared to stage 0. A difference between stage 1 and stage 0, as well as SNAP and stage 0, is found. Analysis is controlled for age and education.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Jessen F, Amariglio RE, van Boxtel M, et al. A conceptual framework for research on subjective cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimers Dement 2014;10:844–852. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Knopman DS. Subjective cognitive impairment: fickle but fateful. Neurology 2012;79:1308–1309. - PubMed
    1. Amariglio RE, Becker JA, Carmasin J, et al. Subjective cognitive complaints and amyloid burden in cognitively normal older individuals. Neuropsychologia 2012;50:2880–2886. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Perrotin A, Mormino EC, Madison CM, Hayenga AO, Jagust WJ. Subjective cognition and amyloid deposition imaging: a Pittsburgh compound B positron emission tomography study in normal elderly individuals. Arch Neurol 2012;69:223–229. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jessen F, Feyen L, Freymann K, et al. Volume reduction of the entorhinal cortex in subjective memory impairment. Neurobiol Aging 2006;27:1751–1756. - PubMed

Publication types

Substances