ADVERTISEMENT
Anxiety May Predict Cognitive Decline
Increased levels of amyloid beta in cognitively normal older adults was associated with an increase in anxious-depressive symptoms , suggesting an association neuropsychiatric symptoms and Alzheimer disease (AD), according to the results of a recent study.
Previous research has suggested that depression and other neuropsychiatric symptoms could predict the progression of preclinical AD, which can occur more than a decade before cognitive impairment begins.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT
Is Memory an Effective Screening Measure for Alzheimer Disease?
Hypertension Causes Worse Cognitive Function in Patients With Alzheimer Disease
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
For their study, researchers examined data from 270 cognitively normal elderly participants. The participants underwent Pittsburgh compound B (PiB) positron emission tomography (PET) measures or cortical aggregate amyloid beta and annual 30-itmen Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) assessment.
Overall, higher PiB binding predicted faster rates of increase in GDS score over time, as well as higher rates of increase for anxiety-concentration scores, after researchers adjusted for depression history.
“Higher amyloid beta burden was associated with increasing anxious-depressive symptoms over time in cognitively normal older individuals,” the researchers concluded. “Prior depression history was related to higher but not worsening symptom ratings. These results suggest a direct or indirect association of elevated amyloid beta levels with worsening anxious-depressive symptoms and support the hypothesis that emerging neuropsychiatric symptoms represent an early manifestation of preclinical Alzheimer disease.”
—Michael Potts
Reference:
Donovan NJ, Locascio JJ, Marshall GA, et al. Longitudinal association of amyloid beta and anxious-depressive symptoms in cognitively normal older adults [published online January 12, 2018]. AJP. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17040442
