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Cognitive functioning in relation to brain amyloid-β in healthy adults with Down syndrome
Hartley SL, Handen BL, Devenny DA, Hardison R, Mihaila I, Price JC, Cohen AD, Klunk WE et al.. Brain : a journal of neurology, 2014-07-02
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Nearly all adults with Down syndrome show neuropathology of Alzheimer's disease, including amyloid-β deposition, by their fifth decade of life. In the current study, we examined the association between brain amyloid-β deposition, assessed via in vivo assessments of neocortical Pittsburgh compound B, and scores on an extensive neuropsychological battery of measures of cognitive functioning in 63 adults (31 male, 32 female) with Down syndrome aged 30-53 years who did not exhibit symptoms of dementia. Twenty-two of the adults with Down syndrome were identified as having elevated neocortical Pittsburgh compound B retention levels. There was a significant positive correlation (r = 0.62, P < 0.0001) between age and neocortical Pittsburgh compound B retention. This robust association makes it difficult to discriminate normative age-related decline in cognitive functioning from any potential effects of amyloid-β deposition. When controlling for chronological age in addition to mental age, there were no significant differences between the adults with Down syndrome who had elevated neocortical Pittsburgh compound B retention levels and those who did not on any of the neuropsychological measures. Similarly, when examining Pittsburgh compound B as a continuous variable, after controlling for mental age and chronological age, only the Rivermead Picture Recognition score was significantly negatively associated with neocortical Pittsburgh compound B retention. Our findings indicate that many adults with Down syndrome can tolerate amyloid-β deposition without deleterious effects on cognitive functioning. However, we may have obscured true effects of amyloid-β deposition by controlling for chronological age in our analyses. Moreover, our sample included adults with Down syndrome who were most 'resistant' to the effects of amyloid-β deposition, as adults already exhibiting clinical symptoms of dementia symptoms were excluded from the study.
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APA 7th
Hartley, S. L., Handen, B. L., Devenny, D. A., Hardison, R., Mihaila, I., Price, J. C., et al. (2014). Cognitive functioning in relation to brain amyloid-β in healthy adults with Down syndrome. Brain : a journal of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awu173
Vancouver
Hartley SL, Handen BL, Devenny DA, Hardison R, Mihaila I, Price JC, et al. Cognitive functioning in relation to brain amyloid-β in healthy adults with Down syndrome. Brain : a journal of neurology. 2014. doi:10.1093/brain/awu173. PMID: 24993958.
BibTeX
@article{hartley2014-24993958,
author = {Hartley, S. L. and Handen, B. L. and Devenny, D. A. and Hardison, R. and Mihaila, I. and Price, J. C. and Cohen, A. D. and Klunk, W. E. and others},
title = {{Cognitive functioning in relation to brain amyloid-β in healthy adults with Down syndrome}},
journal = {Brain : a journal of neurology},
year = {2014},
doi = {10.1093/brain/awu173},
pmid = {24993958},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awu173}
}
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Key findings
- There was a significant positive correlation (r = 0.62, P < 0.0001) between age and neocortical Pittsburgh compound B retention.
- When controlling for chronological age in addition to mental age, there were no significant differences between the adults with Down syndrome who had elevated neocortical Pittsburgh compound B retention levels and those who did not on any of the neuropsychological measures.
- Similarly, when examining Pittsburgh compound B as a continuous variable, after controlling for mental age and chronological age, only the Rivermead Picture Recognition score was significantly negatively associated with neocortical Pittsburgh compound B retention.
- Our findings indicate that many adults with Down syndrome can tolerate amyloid-β deposition without deleterious effects on cognitive functioning.
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Study details
- Participants63
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 47/100
Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 27 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 47 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Brain : a journal of neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| 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 | 1 / 5 | 2014 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 1 / 4 | 63 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) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 24993958) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 27 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 27 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 47 out of 100. |
| Total | 47 / 100 | — |
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