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Autobiographical narratives relate to Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in older adults

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 June 2014

Rachel F. Buckley ,
Michael M. Saling ,
Muireann Irish ,
David Ames ,
Christopher C. Rowe ,
Victor L. Villemagne ,
Nicola T. Lautenschlager ,
Paul Maruff ,
S. Lance Macaulay  and
Ralph N. Martins
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Rachel F. Buckley*
Affiliation:
Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Michael M. Saling
Affiliation:
Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Muireann Irish
Affiliation:
Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia School of Psychology, the University of New South Wales, Kensington, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
David Ames
Affiliation:
National Aging Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia The Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, St. Vincent's Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Christopher C. Rowe
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Medicine and Centre for PET, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Australia The Department of Medicine, Austin Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Victor L. Villemagne
Affiliation:
Department of Nuclear Medicine and Centre for PET, Austin Health, Heidelberg, Australia The Department of Medicine, Austin Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Nicola T. Lautenschlager
Affiliation:
The Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, St. Vincent's Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences and West Australian Centre for Health & Ageing, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Australia
Paul Maruff
Affiliation:
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Cogstate Ltd, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
S. Lance Macaulay
Affiliation:
Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Ralph N. Martins
Affiliation:
Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease Research and Care, School of Medical Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia Sir James McCusker Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit (Hollywood Private Hospital), Perth, Western Australia, Australia School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Cassandra Szoeke
Affiliation:
National Aging Research Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Colin L. Masters
Affiliation:
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Stephanie R. Rainey-Smith
Affiliation:
Centre of Excellence for Alzheimer's Disease Research and Care, School of Medical Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia Sir James McCusker Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit (Hollywood Private Hospital), Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Alan Rembach
Affiliation:
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Greg Savage
Affiliation:
ARC Centre of Excellence in Cognition and its Disorders, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Kathryn A. Ellis
Affiliation:
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia The Academic Unit for Psychiatry of Old Age, St. Vincent's Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Rachel F. Buckley, BSc (Hons), Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, Redmond Barry Building, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria 3010, Australia. Phone: +613-8344-4297; Fax: +613-9347-6618. Email: rachel.buckley@unimelb.edu.au.
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Abstract

Background:

Autobiographical memory (ABM), personal semantic memory (PSM), and autonoetic consciousness are affected in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) but their relationship with Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers are unclear.

Methods:

Forty-five participants (healthy controls (HC) = 31, MCI = 14) completed the Episodic ABM Interview and a battery of memory tests. Thirty-one (HC = 22, MCI = 9) underwent β-amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging. Fourteen participants (HC = 9, MCI = 5) underwent one imaging modality.

Results:

Unlike PSM, ABM differentiated between diagnostic categories but did not relate to AD biomarkers. Personal semantic memory was related to neocortical β-amyloid burden after adjusting for age and apolipoprotein E (APOE) ɛ4. Autonoetic consciousness was not associated with AD biomarkers, and was not impaired in MCI.

Conclusions:

Autobiographical memory was impaired in MCI participants but was not related to neocortical amyloid burden, suggesting that personal memory systems are impacted by differing disease mechanisms, rather than being uniformly underpinned by β-amyloid. Episodic and semantic ABM impairment represent an important AD prodrome.

Keywords

autobiographical memoryβ-amyloidhippocampal volumemild cognitive impairment

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 26 , Issue 10 , October 2014 , pp. 1737 - 1746
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2014 

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