Longitudinal plasma phosphorylated-tau217 and other related biomarkers in a non-demented Alzheimer's risk-enhanced sample.

INTRODUCTION: Understanding longitudinal change in key plasma biomarkers will aid in detecting presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: Serial plasma samples from 424 Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention participants were analyzed for phosphorylated-tau217 (p-tau217; ALZpath) and other AD biomarkers, to study longitudinal trajectories in relation to disease, health factors, and cognitive decline. Of the participants, 18.6% with known amyloid status were amyloid positive (A+); 97.2% were cognitively unimpaired (CU). RESULTS: In the CU, amyloid-negative (A-) subset, plasma p-tau217 levels increased modestly with age but were unaffected by body mass index and kidney function. In the whole sample, average p-tau217 change rates were higher in those who were A+ (e.g., simple slopes(se) for A+ and A- at age 60 were 0.232(0.028) and 0.038(0.013))). High baseline p-tau217 levels predicted faster preclinical cognitive decline. DISCUSSION: p-tau217 stands out among markers for its strong association with disease and cognitive decline, indicating its potential for early AD detection and monitoring progression. HIGHLIGHTS: Phosphorylated-tau217 (p-tau217) trajectories were significantly different in people who were known to be amyloid positive. Subtle age-related trajectories were seen for all the plasma markers in amyloid-negative cognitively unimpaired. Kidney function and body mass index were not associated with plasma p-tau217 trajectories. Higher plasma p-tau217 was associated with faster preclinical cognitive decline.

Prediction of future cognitive decline among cognitively unimpaired individuals using measures of soluble phosphorylated tau or tau tangle pathology.

Plasma p-tau217 and Tau-PET are strong prognostic biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease (AD), but their relative performance in predicting future cognitive decline among cognitively unimpaired (CU) individuals is unclear. In this head-to-head comparison study including 9 cohorts and 1534 individuals, we found that plasma p-tau217 and medial temporal lobe Tau-PET signal showed similar associations with cognitive decline on a global cognitive composite test (R2 PET=0.32 vs R2 PLASMA=0.32, pdifference=0.812) and with progression to mild cognitive impairment (Hazard ratio[HR]PET=1.56[1.43-1.70] vs HRPLASMA=1.63[1.50-1.77], pdifference=0.627). Combined plasma and PET models were superior to the single biomarker models (R2=0.36, p<0.01). Furthermore, sequential selection using plasma p-tau217 and then Tau-PET reduced the number of participants required for a clinical trial by 94%, compared to a 75% reduction when using plasma p-tau217 alone. We conclude that plasma p-tau217 and Tau-PET showed similar performance for predicting future cognitive decline in CU individuals, and their sequential use (i.e., plasma p-tau217 followed by Tau-PET in a subset with high plasma p-tau217) is useful for screening in clinical trials in preclinical AD.

Drawing on Black and Queer Communities' Harm Reduction Histories to Improve Overdose Prevention Strategies and Policies.

Harm reduction emerged as a set of strategies developed by and for people who use opioids and other substances and strive to do so in ways that are as safe as possible. This article reviews histories of Black and queer community-based harm reduction practices and suggests how these histories can inform harm reduction policy and guide development and implementation of anti-overdose interventions.

Association of neighborhood disadvantage with cognitive function and cortical disorganization in an unimpaired cohort.

Objective: Neighborhood disadvantage is associated with worse health and cognitive outcomes. Morphological similarity network (MSN) is a promising approach to elucidate cortical network patterns underlying complex cognitive functions. We hypothesized that MSNs could capture intricate changes in cortical patterns related to neighborhood disadvantage and cognitive function, potentially explaining some of the risk for later life cognitive impairment among individuals who live in disadvantaged contexts. Methods: This cross-sectional study included cognitively unimpaired participants (n=524, age=62.96±8.377, gender (M:F)=181:343, ADI(L:H) =450,74) from the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center or Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention. Neighborhood disadvantage status was obtained using the Area Deprivation Index (ADI). Cognitive performance was assessed through six tests evaluating memory, executive functioning, and the modified preclinical Alzheimer's cognitive composite (mPACC). Morphological Similarity Networks (MSN) were constructed for each participant based on the similarity in distribution of cortical thickness of brain regions, followed by computation of local and global network features. We used linear regression to examine ADI associations with cognitive scores and MSN features. The mediating effect of MSN features on the relationship between ADI and cognitive performance was statistically assessed. Results: Neighborhood disadvantage showed negative association with category fluency, implicit learning speed, story recall and mPACC scores, indicating worse cognitive function among those living in more disadvantaged neighborhoods. Local network features of frontal and temporal brain regions differed based on ADI status. Centrality of left lateral orbitofrontal region showed a partial mediating effect between association of neighborhood disadvantage and story recall performance. Conclusion: Our findings suggest differences in local cortical organization by neighborhood disadvantage, which also partially mediated the relationship between ADI and cognitive performance, providing a possible network-based mechanism to, in-part, explain the risk for poor cognitive functioning associated with disadvantaged neighborhoods. Future work will examine the exposure to neighborhood disadvantage on structural organization of the brain.

Sex, racial, and APOE-ε4 allele differences in longitudinal white matter microstructure in multiple cohorts of aging and Alzheimer's disease.

INTRODUCTION: The effects of sex, race, and Apolipoprotein E (APOE) - Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk factors - on white matter integrity are not well characterized. METHODS: Diffusion MRI data from nine well-established longitudinal cohorts of aging were free-water (FW)-corrected and harmonized. This dataset included 4,702 participants (age=73.06 ± 9.75) with 9,671 imaging sessions over time. FW and FW-corrected fractional anisotropy (FAFWcorr) were used to assess differences in white matter microstructure by sex, race, and APOE-ε4 carrier status. RESULTS: Sex differences in FAFWcorr in association and projection tracts, racial differences in FAFWcorr in projection tracts, and APOE-ε4 differences in FW limbic and occipital transcallosal tracts were most pronounced. DISCUSSION: There are prominent differences in white matter microstructure by sex, race, and APOE-ε4 carrier status. This work adds to our understanding of disparities in AD. Additional work to understand the etiology of these differences is warranted.

Mid-to-Late Life Healthy Lifestyle Modifies Genetic Risk for Longitudinal Cognitive Aging among Asymptomatic Individuals.

IMPORTANCE: Genetic and lifestyle factors contribute to an individual's risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. However, it is unknown whether and how adherence to healthy lifestyles can mitigate the genetic risk of Alzheimer's. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to investigate whether adherence to healthy lifestyles can modify the impact of genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's disease on later-life cognitive decline. DESIGN SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: This prospective cohort study included 891 adults of European ancestry, aged 40 to 65, who were without dementia and had complete healthy-lifestyle and cognition data during the follow-up. Participants joined the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention (WRAP) beginning in 2001. We conducted replication analyses using a subsample with similar baseline age range from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). EXPOSURES: We assessed participants' exposures using a continuous non-APOE polygenic risk score for Alzheimer's, a binary indicator for APOE-ε4 carrier status, and a weighted healthy-lifestyle score, including factors such as no current smoking, regular physical activity, healthy diet, light to moderate alcohol consumption, and frequent cognitive activities. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: We z-standardized cognitive scores for global (Preclinical Alzheimer's Cognitive Composite score 3 - PACC3) and domain-specific assessments (delayed recall and immediate learning). RESULTS: We followed 891 individuals for up to 10 years (mean [SD] baseline age, 58 [6] years, 31% male, 38% APOE-ε4 carriers). After false discovery rate (FDR) correction, we found statistically significant PRS × lifestyle × age interactions on preclinical cognitive decline but the evidence is stronger among APOE-ε4 carriers. Among APOE-ε4 carriers, PRS-related differences in overall and memory-related domains between people scoring 0-1 and 4-5 regarding healthy lifestyles became evident around age 67 after FDR correction. These findings were robust across several sensitivity analyses and were replicated in the population-based HRS. CONCLUSION: A favorable lifestyle can mitigate the genetic risk associated with current known non-APOE genetic variants for longitudinal cognitive decline, and these protective effects are particularly pronounced among APOE-ε4 carriers.

Konectom™ cognitive processing speed test enables reliable remote, unsupervised cognitive assessment in people with multiple sclerosis: Exploring the use of substitution time as a novel digital outcome measure.

BACKGROUND: The Konectom™ smartphone-based cognitive processing speed (CPS) test is designed to assess processing speed and account for impact of visuomotor function on performance. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate reliability and validity of Konectom CPS Test, performed in clinic and remotely. METHODS: Data were collected from people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) aged 18-64 years and healthy control participants (HC) matched for age, sex, and education. Remote test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients, ICC); correlation with established clinical measures (Spearman correlation coefficients); group analyses between cognitively impaired/unimpaired PwMS; and influence of age, sex, education, and upper limb motor function on CPS Test measures were assessed. RESULTS: Eighty PwMS and 66 HC participated. CPS Test measures from remote tests had good test-retest reliability (ICC of 0.67-0.87) and correlated with symbol digit modalities test (highest |ρ| = 0.80, p < 0.0001). Remote measures were stable (change from baseline < 5%) and correlated with MS disability (highest |ρ| = 0.39, p = 0.0004) measured by Expanded Disability Status Scale. CPS Test measures displayed sensitivity to cognitive impairment (highest d = 1.47). Demographics and motor function had the lowest impact on CPS Test substitution time, a measure accounting for visuomotor function. CONCLUSION: Konectom CPS Test measures provide valid, reliable remote measurements of cognitive processing speed in PwMS.

Older adults at greater risk for Alzheimer's disease show stronger associations between sleep apnea severity in REM sleep and verbal memory.

BACKGROUND: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) increases risk for cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease (AD). While the underlying mechanisms remain unclear, hypoxemia during OSA has been implicated in cognitive impairment. OSA during rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is usually more severe than in non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep, but the relative effect of oxyhemoglobin desaturation during REM versus NREM sleep on memory is not completely characterized. Here, we examined the impact of OSA, as well as the moderating effects of AD risk factors, on verbal memory in a sample of middle-aged and older adults with heightened AD risk. METHODS: Eighty-one adults (mean age:61.7 ± 6.0 years, 62% females, 32% apolipoprotein E ε4 allele (APOE4) carriers, and 70% with parental history of AD) underwent clinical polysomnography including assessment of OSA. OSA features were derived in total, NREM, and REM sleep. REM-NREM ratios of OSA features were also calculated. Verbal memory was assessed with the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Multiple regression models evaluated the relationships between OSA features and RAVLT scores while adjusting for sex, age, time between assessments, education years, body mass index (BMI), and APOE4 status or parental history of AD. The significant main effects of OSA features on RAVLT performance and the moderating effects of AD risk factors (i.e., sex, age, APOE4 status, and parental history of AD) were examined. RESULTS: Apnea-hypopnea index (AHI), respiratory disturbance index (RDI), and oxyhemoglobin desaturation index (ODI) during REM sleep were negatively associated with RAVLT total learning and long-delay recall. Further, greater REM-NREM ratios of AHI, RDI, and ODI (i.e., more events in REM than NREM) were related to worse total learning and recall. We found specifically that the negative association between REM ODI and total learning was driven by adults 60 + years old. In addition, the negative relationships between REM-NREM ODI ratio and total learning, and REM-NREM RDI ratio and long-delay recall were driven by APOE4 carriers. CONCLUSION: Greater OSA severity, particularly during REM sleep, negatively affects verbal memory, especially for people with greater AD risk. These findings underscore the potential importance of proactive screening and treatment of REM OSA even if overall AHI appears low.

APOE4 homozygozity represents a distinct genetic form of Alzheimer's disease.

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of APOE4 homozygosity on Alzheimer's disease (AD) by examining its clinical, pathological and biomarker changes to see whether APOE4 homozygotes constitute a distinct, genetically determined form of AD. Data from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center and five large cohorts with AD biomarkers were analyzed. The analysis included 3,297 individuals for the pathological study and 10,039 for the clinical study. Findings revealed that almost all APOE4 homozygotes exhibited AD pathology and had significantly higher levels of AD biomarkers from age 55 compared to APOE3 homozygotes. By age 65, nearly all had abnormal amyloid levels in cerebrospinal fluid, and 75% had positive amyloid scans, with the prevalence of these markers increasing with age, indicating near-full penetrance of AD biology in APOE4 homozygotes. The age of symptom onset was earlier in APOE4 homozygotes at 65.1, with a narrower 95% prediction interval than APOE3 homozygotes. The predictability of symptom onset and the sequence of biomarker changes in APOE4 homozygotes mirrored those in autosomal dominant AD and Down syndrome. However, in the dementia stage, there were no differences in amyloid or tau positron emission tomography across haplotypes, despite earlier clinical and biomarker changes. The study concludes that APOE4 homozygotes represent a genetic form of AD, suggesting the need for individualized prevention strategies, clinical trials and treatments.

Biobank-wide association scan identifies risk factors for late-onset Alzheimer's disease and endophenotypes.

Rich data from large biobanks, coupled with increasingly accessible association statistics from genome-wide association studies (GWAS), provide great opportunities to dissect the complex relationships among human traits and diseases. We introduce BADGERS, a powerful method to perform polygenic score-based biobank-wide association scans. Compared to traditional approaches, BADGERS uses GWAS summary statistics as input and does not require multiple traits to be measured in the same cohort. We applied BADGERS to two independent datasets for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD; n=61,212). Among 1738 traits in the UK biobank, we identified 48 significant associations for AD. Family history, high cholesterol, and numerous traits related to intelligence and education showed strong and independent associations with AD. Furthermore, we identified 41 significant associations for a variety of AD endophenotypes. While family history and high cholesterol were strongly associated with AD subgroups and pathologies, only intelligence and education-related traits predicted pre-clinical cognitive phenotypes. These results provide novel insights into the distinct biological processes underlying various risk factors for AD.

Post-GWAS multiomic functional investigation of the TNIP1 locus in Alzheimer's disease highlights a potential role for GPX3.

INTRODUCTION: Recent genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have reported a genetic association with Alzheimer's disease (AD) at the TNIP1/GPX3 locus, but the mechanism is unclear. METHODS: We used cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) proteomics data to test (n = 137) and replicate (n = 446) the association of glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPX3) with CSF biomarkers (including amyloid and tau) and the GWAS-implicated variants (rs34294852 and rs871269). RESULTS: CSF GPX3 levels decreased with amyloid and tau positivity (analysis of variance P = 1.5 × 10-5) and higher CSF phosphorylated tau (p-tau) levels (P = 9.28 × 10-7). The rs34294852 minor allele was associated with decreased GPX3 (P = 0.041). The replication cohort found associations of GPX3 with amyloid and tau positivity (P = 2.56 × 10-6) and CSF p-tau levels (P = 4.38 × 10-9). DISCUSSION: These results suggest variants in the TNIP1 locus may affect the oxidative stress response in AD via altered GPX3 levels. HIGHLIGHTS: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPX3) levels decreased with amyloid and tau positivity and higher CSF phosphorylated tau. The minor allele of rs34294852 was associated with lower CSF GPX3. levels when also controlling for amyloid and tau category. GPX3 transcript levels in the prefrontal cortex were lower in Alzheimer's disease than controls. rs34294852 is an expression quantitative trait locus for GPX3 in blood, neutrophils, and microglia.

Characterizing brain tau and cognitive decline along the amyloid timeline in Alzheimer's disease.

Recent longitudinal PET imaging studies have established methods to estimate the age at which amyloid becomes abnormal at the level of the individual. Here we recontextualized amyloid levels into the temporal domain to better understand the downstream Alzheimer's disease processes of tau neurofibrillary tangle (NFT) accumulation and cognitive decline. This cohort study included a total of 601 individuals from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention and Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center that underwent amyloid and tau PET, longitudinal neuropsychological assessments and met clinical criteria for three clinical diagnosis groups: cognitively unimpaired (n = 537); mild cognitive impairment (n = 48); or dementia (n = 16). Cortical 11C-Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) distribution volume ratio (DVR) and sampled iterative local approximation were used to estimate amyloid positive (A+; global PiB DVR > 1.16 equivalent to 17.1 centiloids) onset age and years of A+ duration at tau PET (i.e. amyloid chronicity). Tau PET burden was quantified using 18F-MK-6240 standardized uptake value ratios (70-90 min, inferior cerebellar grey matter reference region). Whole-brain and region-specific approaches were used to examine tau PET binding along the amyloid timeline and across the Alzheimer's disease clinical continuum. Voxel-wise 18F-MK-6240 analyses revealed that with each decade of A+, the spatial extent of measurable tau spread (i.e. progressed) from regions associated with early to late NFT tau stages. Regional analyses indicated that tau burden in the entorhinal cortex was detectable, on average, within 10 years of A+ onset. Additionally, the entorhinal cortex was the region most sensitive to early amyloid pathology and clinical impairment in this predominantly preclinical sample. Among initially cognitively unimpaired (n = 472) individuals with longitudinal cognitive follow-up, mixed effects models showed significant linear and non-linear interactions of A+ duration and entorhinal tau on cognitive decline, suggesting a synergistic effect whereby greater A+ duration, together with a higher entorhinal tau burden, increases the likelihood of cognitive decline beyond their separable effects. Overall, the amyloid time framework enabled a spatiotemporal characterization of tau deposition patterns across the Alzheimer's disease continuum. This approach, which examined cross-sectional tau PET data along the amyloid timeline to make longitudinal disease course inferences, demonstrated that A+ duration explains a considerable amount of variability in the magnitude and topography of tau spread, which largely recapitulated NFT staging observed in human neuropathological studies. By anchoring disease progression to the onset of amyloid, this study provides a temporal disease context, which may help inform disease prognosis and timing windows for anti-amyloid therapies.

A remote digital memory composite to detect cognitive impairment in memory clinic samples in unsupervised settings using mobile devices.

Remote monitoring of cognition holds the promise to facilitate case-finding in clinical care and the individual detection of cognitive impairment in clinical and research settings. In the context of Alzheimer's disease, this is particularly relevant for patients who seek medical advice due to memory problems. Here, we develop a remote digital memory composite (RDMC) score from an unsupervised remote cognitive assessment battery focused on episodic memory and long-term recall and assess its construct validity, retest reliability, and diagnostic accuracy when predicting MCI-grade impairment in a memory clinic sample and healthy controls. A total of 199 participants were recruited from three cohorts and included as healthy controls (n = 97), individuals with subjective cognitive decline (n = 59), or patients with mild cognitive impairment (n = 43). Participants performed cognitive assessments in a fully remote and unsupervised setting via a smartphone app. The derived RDMC score is significantly correlated with the PACC5 score across participants and demonstrates good retest reliability. Diagnostic accuracy for discriminating memory impairment from no impairment is high (cross-validated AUC = 0.83, 95% CI [0.66, 0.99]) with a sensitivity of 0.82 and a specificity of 0.72. Thus, unsupervised remote cognitive assessments implemented in the neotiv digital platform show good discrimination between cognitively impaired and unimpaired individuals, further demonstrating that it is feasible to complement the neuropsychological assessment of episodic memory with unsupervised and remote assessments on mobile devices. This contributes to recent efforts to implement remote assessment of episodic memory for case-finding and monitoring in large research studies and clinical care.

CSF Biomarkers in Longitudinal Alzheimer Disease Cohorts: Pre-Analytic Challenges.

BACKGROUND: The sensitivity of amyloid to pre-analytic factors complicates cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diagnostics for Alzheimer disease. We report reliability and validity evidence for automated immunoassays from frozen and fresh CSF samples in an ongoing, single-site research program. METHODS: CSF samples were obtained from 2 Wisconsin cohorts (1256 measurements; 727 participants). Levels of amyloid beta 1-42 (Aß42), phosphorylated tau 181 (pTau181), and total tau (tTau) were obtained using an Elecsys cobas e 601 platform. Repeatability and fixed effects of storage tube type, extraction method, and freezing were assessed via mixed models. Concordance with amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) was investigated with 238 participants having a temporally proximal PET scan. RESULTS: Repeatability was high with intraclass correlation (ICC) ≥0.9, but tube type strongly affected measurements. Discriminative accuracy for PET amyloid positivity was strong across tube types (area under the curve [AUC]: Aß42, 0.87; pTau181Aß42 , 0.96), although optimal thresholds differed. CONCLUSIONS: Under real-world conditions, the Elecsys platform had high repeatability. However, strong effects of pre-analytic factors suggest caution in drawing longitudinal inferences.

Whole-body metabolic modelling reveals microbiome and genomic interactions on reduced urine formate levels in Alzheimer's disease.

In this study, we aimed to understand the potential role of the gut microbiome in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). We took a multi-faceted approach to investigate this relationship. Urine metabolomics were examined in individuals with AD and controls, revealing decreased formate and fumarate concentrations in AD. Additionally, we utilised whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data obtained from a separate group of individuals with AD and controls. This information allowed us to create and investigate host-microbiome personalised whole-body metabolic models. Notably, AD individuals displayed diminished formate microbial secretion in these models. Additionally, we identified specific reactions responsible for the production of formate in the host, and interestingly, these reactions were linked to genes that have correlations with AD. This study suggests formate as a possible early AD marker and highlights genetic and microbiome contributions to its production. The reduced formate secretion and its genetic associations point to a complex connection between gut microbiota and AD. This holistic understanding might pave the way for novel diagnostic and therapeutic avenues in AD management.

Longitudinal normative standards for cognitive tests and composites using harmonized data from two Wisconsin AD-risk-enriched cohorts.

INTRODUCTION: Published norms are typically cross-sectional and often are not sensitive to preclinical cognitive changes due to dementia. We developed and validated demographically adjusted cross-sectional and longitudinal normative standards using harmonized outcomes from two Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk-enriched cohorts. METHODS: Data from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention and the Wisconsin Alzheimer's Disease Research Center were combined. Quantile regression was used to develop unconditional (cross-sectional) and conditional (longitudinal) normative standards for 18 outcomes using data from cognitively unimpaired participants (N = 1390; mean follow-up = 9.25 years). Validity analyses (N = 2456) examined relationships between percentile scores (centiles), consensus-based cognitive statuses, and AD biomarker levels. RESULTS: Unconditional and conditional centiles were lower in those with consensus-based impairment or biomarker positivity. Similarly, quantitative biomarker levels were higher in those whose centiles suggested decline. DISCUSSION: This study presents normative standards for cognitive measures sensitive to pre-clinical changes. Future directions will investigate potential clinical applications of longitudinal normative standards. HIGHLIGHTS: Quantile regression was used to construct longitudinal norms for cognitive tests. Poorer percentile scores were related to concurrent diagnosis and Alzheimer's disease biomarkers. A ShinyApp was built to display test scores and norms and flag low performance.

Midlife sensory and motor functions improve prediction of blood-based measures of neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's disease in late middle-age.

INTRODUCTION: We assessed whether midlife sensory and motor functions added to prediction models using the Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Incidence of Dementia Score (CAIDE) and Framingham Risk Score (FRS) improve risk predictions of 10-year changes in biomarkers of neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's disease. METHODS: Longitudinal data of N = 1529 (mean age 49years) Beaver Dam Offspring Study participants from baseline, 5-year, and 10-year follow-up were included. We tested whether including baseline sensory (hearing, vision, olfactory) impairment and motor function measures improves CAIDE or FRS risk predictions of 10-year incidence of biomarker positivity of serum-based neurofilament light chain (NfL) and amyloid beta (Aß)42/Aß40 using logistic regression. RESULTS: Adding sensory and motor measures to CAIDE-only and FRS-only models significantly improved NfL and Aß42/Aß40 positivity predictions in adults above the age of 55. DISCUSSION: Including midlife sensory and motor function improved long-term biomarker positivity predictions. Non-invasive sensory and motor assessments could contribute to cost-effective screening tools that identify individuals at risk for neurodegeneration early to target interventions and preventions. Highlights: Sensory and motor measures improve risk prediction models of neurodegenerative biomarkersSensory and motor measures improve risk prediction models of AD biomarkersPrediction improvements were strongest in late midlife (adults >55 years of age)Sensory and motor assessments may help identify high-risk individuals early.

Measurement of synaptic density in Down syndrome using PET imaging: a pilot study.

Down syndrome (DS) is the most prevalent genetic cause of intellectual disability, resulting from trisomy 21. Recently, positron emission tomography (PET) imaging has been used to image synapses in vivo. The motivation for this pilot study was to investigate whether synaptic density in low functioning adults with DS can be evaluated using the PET radiotracer [11C]UCB-J. Data were acquired from low functioning adults with DS (n = 4) and older neurotypical (NT) adults (n = 37). Motion during the scans required the use of a 10-minute acquisition window for the calculation of synaptic density using SUVR50-60,CS which was determined to be a suitable approximation for specific binding in this analysis using dynamic data from the NT group. Of the regions analyzed a large effect was observed when comparing DS and NT hippocampus and cerebral cortex synaptic density as well as hippocampus and cerebellum volumes. In this pilot study, PET imaging of [11C]UCB-J was successfully completed and synaptic density measured in low functioning DS adults. This work provides the basis for studies where synaptic density may be compared between larger groups of NT adults and adults with DS who have varying degrees of baseline cognitive status.