Neurological soft signs are associated with APOE genotype, age and cognitive performance

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Lautenschlager, N.T.^a | Wu, Jing-Shan^{b; c} | Laws, S.M.^{b; c} | Almeida, O.P.^a | Clarnette, R.M.^{b; c} | Joesbury, K.^{b; c} | Wagenpfeil, S.^e | Martins, G.^{b; c} | Paton, A.^{b; c} | Gandy, S.E.^{b; d} | Förstl, H.^f | Martins, R.N.^{b; c; *}

Affiliations: [a] University of Western Australia, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, Perth, WA, Australia | [b] Ageing and Alzheimer's, School of Biomedical and Sports Science, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup 6027, WA, Australia | [c] University of Western Australia, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, Hollywood Private Hospital, Nedlands 6009, WA, Australia | [d] Farber Institute for Neurosciences, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107-5587, USA | [e] Institute for Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, Technische Universität München, 81678 München, Germany | [f] Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Technische Universität München, 81678 München, Germany

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Professor Ralph Martins, Ageing & Alzheimer's, School of Biomedical and Sports Science, Edith Cowan University, 100 Joondalup Drive, Joondalup 6027, WA, Australia. and, University of Western Australia, Sir James McCusker Alzheimer's Disease Research Unit, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, Hollywood Private Hospital, 115 Monash Avenue, Nedlands 6009, WA, Australia. Tel.: +61 8 9346 6703; Fax: +61 8 9346 6666; E-mail: r.martins@ecu.edu.au.

Abstract: Neurodegeneration is associated with increased frequency of neurological soft signs (NSS). We designed the present study to investigate the association between NSS and subjective memory complaints, cognitive function and apolipoprotein E genotype in a community-dwelling sample of volunteers participating in an ongoing longitudinal program investigating predictors of cognitive decline. NSS were found to be associated with apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 genotype (p = 0.015), age (p = 0.012) and poor cognitive performance, as assessed by the Mini Mental State Examination (p = 0.053). There was no significant difference between subjects with and without memory complaints in relation to the frequency of NSS (p = 0.130). The association with age and the APOE ε4 genotype suggests that the systematic investigation of NSS may contribute to identify subjects at risk of clinically significant cognitive decline in later life.

Keywords: Apolipoprotein E, neurological soft signs, memory impairment, apoE promoter polymorphisms, cognitive decline

DOI: 10.3233/JAD-2005-7409

Journal: Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 325-330, 2005