Event-Related Potentials, Inhibition, and Risk for Alzheimer's Disease Among Cognitively Intact Elders. J Alzheimers Dis 2021;80(4):1413-1428
Date
03/09/2021Pubmed ID
33682720DOI
10.3233/JAD-201559Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85105034120 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 10 CitationsAbstract
BACKGROUND: Despite advances in understanding Alzheimer's disease (AD), prediction of AD prior to symptom onset remains severely limited, even when primary risk factors such as the apolipoprotein E (APOE) ɛ4 allele are known.
OBJECTIVE: Although executive dysfunction is highly prevalent and is a primary contributor to loss of independence in those with AD, few studies have examined neural differences underlying executive functioning as indicators of risk for AD prior to symptom onset, when intervention might be effective.
METHODS: This study examined event-related potential (ERP) differences during inhibitory control in 44 cognitively intact older adults (20 ɛ4+, 24 ɛ4-), relative to 41 young adults. All participants completed go/no-go and stop-signal tasks.
RESULTS: Overall, both older adult groups exhibited slower reaction times and longer ERP latencies compared to young adults. Older adults also had generally smaller N200 and P300 amplitudes, except at frontal electrodes and for N200 stop-signal amplitudes, which were larger in older adults. Considered with intact task accuracy, these findings suggest age-related neural compensation. Although ɛ4 did not distinguish elders during go or no-go tasks, this study uniquely showed that the more demanding stop-signal task was sensitive to ɛ4 differences, despite comparable task and neuropsychological performance with non-carriers. Specifically, ɛ4+ elders had slower frontal N200 latency and larger N200 amplitude, which was most robust at frontal sites, compared with ɛ4-.
CONCLUSION: N200 during a stop-signal task is sensitive to AD risk, prior to any evidence of cognitive dysfunction, suggesting that stop-signal ERPs may be an important protocol addition to neuropsychological testing.
Author List
Elverman KH, Paitel ER, Figueroa CM, McKindles RJ, Nielson KAAuthor
Kristy Nielson PhD Professor in the Psychology department at Marquette UniversityMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AgedAged, 80 and over
Alzheimer Disease
Apolipoprotein E4
Cognition
Evoked Potentials
Executive Function
Female
Humans
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Task Performance and Analysis
