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65/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 65 out of 100. Genetics

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Plain-language summary

Although the presence of abnormal levels of amyloid-β (Aβ) is associated with higher rates of progression to clinically classified mild cognitive impairment or dementia, little research has evaluated potentially modifiable moderators of Aβ-related cognitive decline, such as anxiety and depressive symptoms. Results A positive Aβ (Aβ+) status at baseline was associated with a significant decline in global cognition, verbal memory, language, and executive function, and elevated anxiety symptoms moderated these associations. Compared with the Aβ+, low-anxiety group, slopes of cognitive decline were significantly more pronounced in the Aβ+, high-anxiety group, with Cohen d values of 0.78 (95% CI, 0.33-1.23) for global cognition, 0.54 (95% CI, 0.10-0.98) for verbal memory, 0.51 (95% CI, 0.07-0.96) for language, and 0.39 (95% CI, 0.05-0.83) for executive function. Conclusions and relevance These results provide additional support for the deleterious effect of elevated Aβ levels on cognitive function in preclinical AD. They further suggest that elevated anxiety symptoms moderate the effect of Aβ on cognitive decline in preclinical AD, resulting in more rapid decline in several cognitive domains. Given that there is currently no standard antiamyloid therapy and that anxiety symptoms are amenable to treatment, these findings may help inform risk stratification and management of the preclinical phase of AD.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Pietrzak, R. H., Lim, Y. Y., Neumeister, A., Ames, D., Ellis, K. A., Harrington, K., et al. (2015). Amyloid-β, anxiety, and cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer disease: a multicenter, prospective cohort study. JAMA psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2476

Vancouver

Pietrzak RH, Lim YY, Neumeister A, Ames D, Ellis KA, Harrington K, et al. Amyloid-β, anxiety, and cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer disease: a multicenter, prospective cohort study. JAMA psychiatry. 2015. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2476. PMID: 25629787.

BibTeX

@article{pietrzak2015-25629787,
  author  = {Pietrzak, R. H. and Lim, Y. Y. and Neumeister, A. and Ames, D. and Ellis, K. A. and Harrington, K. and Lautenschlager, N. T. and Restrepo, C. and others},
  title   = {{Amyloid-β, anxiety, and cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer disease: a multicenter, prospective cohort study}},
  journal = {JAMA psychiatry},
  year    = {2015},
  doi     = {10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2476},
  pmid    = {25629787},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2476}
}

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

How to read this study

Design: this is a follow-up (cohort) study. People are observed over time and not assigned to anything, so an association can reflect other differences between groups. Look at how long follow-up lasted, how many dropped out, and whether the authors adjusted for age, education and other health conditions.
Size: the record lists 333 participants. Ask whether that is enough for the question, and who they were.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded moderate. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Moderate means the abstract mentions a cohort, case-control or longitudinal design. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

Although the presence of abnormal levels of amyloid-β (Aβ) is associated with higher rates of progression to clinically classified mild cognitive impairment or dementia, little research has evaluated potentially modifiable moderators of Aβ-related cognitive decline, such as anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Results A positive Aβ (Aβ+) status at baseline was associated with a significant decline in global cognition, verbal memory, language, and executive function, and elevated anxiety symptoms moderated these associations.
Compared with the Aβ+, low-anxiety group, slopes of cognitive decline were significantly more pronounced in the Aβ+, high-anxiety group, with Cohen d values of 0.78 (95% CI, 0.33-1.23) for global cognition, 0.54 (95% CI, 0.10-0.98) for verbal memory, 0.51 (95% CI, 0.07-0.96) for language, and 0.39 (95% CI, 0.05-0.83) for executive function.
Conclusions and relevance These results provide additional support for the deleterious effect of elevated Aβ levels on cognitive function in preclinical AD.
They further suggest that elevated anxiety symptoms moderate the effect of Aβ on cognitive decline in preclinical AD, resulting in more rapid decline in several cognitive domains.

Why it matters

In people without symptoms who had abnormal amyloid levels, those with more anxiety symptoms declined faster in memory and thinking than those with less anxiety. Since anxiety can be treated, this finding may help identify and manage people at higher risk, though it does not show that treating anxiety prevents Alzheimer's disease.

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Study details

Study designcohort study
Participants333
Evidence strengthModerate

How this study scored 65/100

Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a cohort study following people over time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (JAMA psychiatry)
Journal's citation record	3 / 4	JAMA Psychiatry: journal h-index 256 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	7 / 12	A cohort study following people over time
Strength of evidence	3 / 5	Rated “moderate” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	1 / 5	2015 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	2 / 4	333 participants
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	5 / 7	Cited 210 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	16.2 citations a year over 13 year(s) since 2015
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 14.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	2 / 6	Cited by 8 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 49 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Paul T. Maruff: h-index 102 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	2 / 3	Yale University: institution h-index 1,927 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	3 / 3	OpenAlex lists 12 institution(s) in 2 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 25629787)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	65 / 100	—

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