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Association of Factors With Elevated Amyloid Burden in Clinically Normal Older Individuals
Sperling RA, Donohue MC, Raman R, Sun CK, Yaari R, Holdridge K, Siemers E, Johnson KA et al.. JAMA neurology, 2020-06-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
The large number of participants screened with amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) and standardized assessments provides an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate factors associated with elevated brain amyloid. Results Amyloid PET results were acquired for 4486 participants (mean [SD] age, 71.29 [4.67] years; 2647 women [59%]), with 1323 (29.5%) classified as Aβ+. Aβ+ participants demonstrated worse performance on screening Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite results and reported higher change scores on the Cognitive Function Index. Conclusions and relevance Among a large group of older individuals screening for an Alzheimer disease (AD) prevention trial, elevated brain amyloid was associated with family history and APOE ε4 allele but not with multiple other previously reported risk factors for AD. Elevated amyloid was associated with lower test performance results and increased reports of subtle recent declines in daily cognitive function. These results support the hypothesis that elevated amyloid represents an early stage in the Alzheimer continuum and demonstrate the feasibility of enrolling these high-risk participants in secondary prevention trials aimed at slowing cognitive decline during the preclinical stages of AD.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Sperling, R. A., Donohue, M. C., Raman, R., Sun, C. K., Yaari, R., Holdridge, K., et al. (2020). Association of Factors With Elevated Amyloid Burden in Clinically Normal Older Individuals. JAMA neurology. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.0387
Vancouver
Sperling RA, Donohue MC, Raman R, Sun CK, Yaari R, Holdridge K, et al. Association of Factors With Elevated Amyloid Burden in Clinically Normal Older Individuals. JAMA neurology. 2020. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.0387. PMID: 32250387.
BibTeX
@article{sperling2020-32250387,
author = {Sperling, R. A. and Donohue, M. C. and Raman, R. and Sun, C. K. and Yaari, R. and Holdridge, K. and Siemers, E. and Johnson, K. A. and others},
title = {{Association of Factors With Elevated Amyloid Burden in Clinically Normal Older Individuals}},
journal = {JAMA neurology},
year = {2020},
doi = {10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.0387},
pmid = {32250387},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.0387}
}
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.
Key findings
- The large number of participants screened with amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) and standardized assessments provides an unprecedented opportunity to evaluate factors associated with elevated brain amyloid.
- Results Amyloid PET results were acquired for 4486 participants (mean [SD] age, 71.29 [4.67] years; 2647 women [59%]), with 1323 (29.5%) classified as Aβ+.
- Aβ+ participants demonstrated worse performance on screening Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite results and reported higher change scores on the Cognitive Function Index.
- Conclusions and relevance Among a large group of older individuals screening for an Alzheimer disease (AD) prevention trial, elevated brain amyloid was associated with family history and APOE ε4 allele but not with multiple other previously reported risk factors for AD.
- Elevated amyloid was associated with lower test performance results and increased reports of subtle recent declines in daily cognitive function.
Why it matters
Of 4,486 clinically normal older adults (average age 71) who had an amyloid PET scan while screening for an Alzheimer's prevention trial, 1,323 (29.5%) had elevated brain amyloid, which was linked with a family history and the APOE ε4 gene but "not with multiple other previously reported risk factors". People with elevated amyloid scored lower on a cognitive test composite and reported more "subtle recent declines in daily cognitive function", which the authors say supports elevated amyloid being "an early stage in the Alzheimer continuum" and shows such people can be enrolled in prevention trials. These are one-time screening measurements from trial volunteers, so the study does not show who will go on to develop dementia, and it reports no treatment.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Participants4,486
- Effect size29.5%
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 68/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record, so that was left out: it earned 65 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 68 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (JAMA neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | JAMA Neurology: journal h-index 235 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in time |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 2 / 5 | 2020 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 3 / 4 | 4,486 participants |
| Effect reported | 2 / 3 | Effect reported as a number, without an interval or test |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (participant count stated) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 6 / 7 | Cited 328 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 41.0 citations a year over 8 year(s) since 2020 |
| Impact for its field and year | 5 / 6 | Cited 28.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 4 / 6 | Cited by 40 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 150 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | 3 / 3 | Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 1 country |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 32250387) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 65 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 65 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 68 out of 100. |
| Total | 68 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.0387
- PubMed: 32250387
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — PubMed Central lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 10 Oct 2026).
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