%0 Journal Article %J J Alzheimers Dis %D 2018 %T Executive and Language Subjective Cognitive Decline Complaints Discriminate Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease from Normal Aging. %A Valech, Natalia %A Tort-Merino, Adrià %A Coll-Padrós, Nina %A Olives, Jaume %A León, María %A Rami, Lorena %A Molinuevo, José Luis %K Aged %K Aging %K Alzheimer Disease %K Amyloid beta-Peptides %K Cognitive Dysfunction %K Executive Function %K Factor Analysis, Statistical %K Female %K Humans %K Language %K Male %K Middle Aged %K Neuropsychological Tests %K Self Report %X

BACKGROUND: There is a need to specify the profile of subjective cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer's disease (preAD).

OBJECTIVES: To explore specific items of the Subjective Cognitive Decline Questionnaire (SCD-Q) that discriminate preAD from normal aging.

METHODS: 68 cognitively normal older adults were classified as controls (n = 52) or preAD (n = 16) according to amyloid-β (Aβ) levels. An exploratory factor analysis and item analysis of the SCD-Q were performed. Informant reports of the SCD-Q were used to corroborate the findings of self-reports. One-year neuropsychological follow-up was available.

RESULTS: Four SCD-Q factors were extracted: EM-factor (episodic memory), A-factor (attention), O-factor (organization), and L-factor (language). PreAD reported a significantly higher decline in L-factor (F(1) = 6.49; p = 0.014) and A-factor (F(1) = 4.04; p = 0.049) compared to controls, and showed a higher frequency of perceived decline in SCD-Q items related with language and executive tasks (Sig-items.) Significant discriminative powers for Aβ-positivity were found for L-factor (AUC = 0.75; p = 0.003) and A-factor (AUC = 0.74; p = 0.004). Informants in the preAD group confirmed significantly higher scores in L-factor and Sig-items. A significant time×group interaction was found in the Semantic Fluency and Stroop tests, with the preAD group showing a decrease in performance at one-year.

CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that SCD-Q items related with language and executive decline may help in prediction algorithms to detect preAD. Validation in an independent population is needed.

%B J Alzheimers Dis %V 61 %P 689-703 %8 2018 %G eng %N 2 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29254090?dopt=Abstract %R 10.3233/JAD-170627 %0 Journal Article %J J Alzheimers Dis %D 2017 %T Early Detection of Learning Difficulties when Confronted with Novel Information in Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease Stage 1. %A Tort-Merino, Adrià %A Valech, Natalia %A Peñaloza, Claudia %A Grönholm-Nyman, Petra %A León, María %A Olives, Jaume %A Estanga, Ainara %A Ecay-Torres, Mirian %A Fortea, Juan %A Martínez-Lage, Pablo %A Molinuevo, José L %A Laine, Matti %A Rodríguez-Fornells, Antoni %A Rami, Lorena %X

We employed a highly demanding experimental associative learning test (the AFE-T) to explore memory functioning in Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease stage 1 (PreAD-1) and stage 2 (PreAD-2). The task consisted in the learning of unknown object/name pairs and our comprehensive setup allowed the analysis of learning curves, immediate recall, long-term forgetting rates at one week, three months, and six months, and relearning curves. Forty-nine cognitively healthy subjects were included and classified according to the presence or absence of abnormal CSF biomarkers (Control, n = 31; PreAD-1, n = 14; PreAD-2, n = 4). Control and PreAD-1 performances on the experimental test were compared by controlling for age and education. These analyses showed clear learning difficulties in PreAD-1 subjects (F = 6.98; p = 0.01). Between-group differences in long-term forgetting rates were less notable, reaching statistical significance only for the three-month cued forgetting rate (F = 4.83; p = 0.03). Similarly, relearning sessions showed only statistical trends between the groups (F = 3.22; p = 0.08). In the whole sample, significant correlations between CSF Aβ42/tau ratio and the AFE-T were found, both in the total learning score (r = 0.52; p < 0.001) and in the three-month cued forgetting rate (r = -0.38; p < 0.01). Descriptive subanalyses involving PreAD-2 suggested greater learning and recall difficulties in these subjects when compared with the PreAD-1 group. The present results suggest that explicit learning difficulties when binding information could be one of the earliest signs of the future emergence of episodic memory difficulties on the Alzheimer's disease continuum. Our findings indicate that the AFE-T is a sensitive test, capable of detecting subtle memory difficulties in PreAD-1.

%B J Alzheimers Dis %V 58 %P 855-870 %8 2017 %G eng %N 3 %1 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28505969?dopt=Abstract %R 10.3233/JAD-161173