Cortical amyloid burden and age moderate hippocampal activity in cognitively-normal adults

Neurodegeneration in the medial temporal lobe, particularly in the hippocampus, is viewed as the primary source of AD-related memory deficits. Yet, in the earliest preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques deposit primarily in the neocortex, not in the medial temp...

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Main Authors: Zhuang Song, Ian M. McDonough, Peiying Liu, Hanzhang Lu, Denise C. Park
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2016-01-01
Series:NeuroImage: Clinical
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158216300894
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author Zhuang Song
Ian M. McDonough
Peiying Liu
Hanzhang Lu
Denise C. Park
author_facet Zhuang Song
Ian M. McDonough
Peiying Liu
Hanzhang Lu
Denise C. Park
author_sort Zhuang Song
collection DOAJ
description Neurodegeneration in the medial temporal lobe, particularly in the hippocampus, is viewed as the primary source of AD-related memory deficits. Yet, in the earliest preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques deposit primarily in the neocortex, not in the medial temporal lobe. Tau tangles, however, do often aggregate in the medial temporal lobe in parallel with amyloid deposition in the neocortex in AD. In the present study, we focused on the relationship between cortical amyloid deposition and hippocampal activity during a memory-encoding task in a sample of cognitively-normal elderly aged 60–89. We hypothesized that age would moderate the Aβ effect on hippocampal activity, and could explain some of the mixed findings in the literature. We report that high cortical Aβ load was associated with lower task-related hippocampal activity during memory encoding. Importantly, this relationship was found more evident in the younger elderly, even after controlling for subsequent recognition memory of the in-scanner task and a general episodic memory construct score. Furthermore, regional cerebrovascular reactivity measured in a subset of participants showed little role in modifying the age-dependent Aβ effect on hippocampal activity. Our findings support the idea that age is an important variable in understanding hippocampal function in preclinical AD.
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spelling doaj.art-dce4a5ba0ace4122b1c9196fcf821ca22022-12-21T19:27:44ZengElsevierNeuroImage: Clinical2213-15822016-01-0112C788410.1016/j.nicl.2016.05.013Cortical amyloid burden and age moderate hippocampal activity in cognitively-normal adultsZhuang Song0Ian M. McDonough1Peiying Liu2Hanzhang Lu3Denise C. Park4Center for Vital Longevity, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX 75235, USACenter for Vital Longevity, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX 75235, USADepartment of Radiology & Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University, MD 21287, USADepartment of Radiology & Radiological Science, Johns Hopkins University, MD 21287, USACenter for Vital Longevity, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, TX 75235, USANeurodegeneration in the medial temporal lobe, particularly in the hippocampus, is viewed as the primary source of AD-related memory deficits. Yet, in the earliest preclinical phase of Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques deposit primarily in the neocortex, not in the medial temporal lobe. Tau tangles, however, do often aggregate in the medial temporal lobe in parallel with amyloid deposition in the neocortex in AD. In the present study, we focused on the relationship between cortical amyloid deposition and hippocampal activity during a memory-encoding task in a sample of cognitively-normal elderly aged 60–89. We hypothesized that age would moderate the Aβ effect on hippocampal activity, and could explain some of the mixed findings in the literature. We report that high cortical Aβ load was associated with lower task-related hippocampal activity during memory encoding. Importantly, this relationship was found more evident in the younger elderly, even after controlling for subsequent recognition memory of the in-scanner task and a general episodic memory construct score. Furthermore, regional cerebrovascular reactivity measured in a subset of participants showed little role in modifying the age-dependent Aβ effect on hippocampal activity. Our findings support the idea that age is an important variable in understanding hippocampal function in preclinical AD.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158216300894AmyloidHippocampusAgePreclinical Alzheimer's disease
spellingShingle Zhuang Song
Ian M. McDonough
Peiying Liu
Hanzhang Lu
Denise C. Park
Cortical amyloid burden and age moderate hippocampal activity in cognitively-normal adults
NeuroImage: Clinical
Amyloid
Hippocampus
Age
Preclinical Alzheimer's disease
title Cortical amyloid burden and age moderate hippocampal activity in cognitively-normal adults
title_full Cortical amyloid burden and age moderate hippocampal activity in cognitively-normal adults
title_fullStr Cortical amyloid burden and age moderate hippocampal activity in cognitively-normal adults
title_full_unstemmed Cortical amyloid burden and age moderate hippocampal activity in cognitively-normal adults
title_short Cortical amyloid burden and age moderate hippocampal activity in cognitively-normal adults
title_sort cortical amyloid burden and age moderate hippocampal activity in cognitively normal adults
topic Amyloid
Hippocampus
Age
Preclinical Alzheimer's disease
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213158216300894
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AT ianmmcdonough corticalamyloidburdenandagemoderatehippocampalactivityincognitivelynormaladults
AT peiyingliu corticalamyloidburdenandagemoderatehippocampalactivityincognitivelynormaladults
AT hanzhanglu corticalamyloidburdenandagemoderatehippocampalactivityincognitivelynormaladults
AT denisecpark corticalamyloidburdenandagemoderatehippocampalactivityincognitivelynormaladults