Positive effects of cholinergic stimulation favor young APOE epsilon4 carriers.

ABSTRACT: The potential of putative cognitive-enhancing compounds to improve mental processing both in healthy and vulnerable populations is an area of growing interest to scientific and clinical communities. The possible influence of individual genetic differences on efficacy of these compounds has yet to be considered. We sought to investigate the profile of young-adult apolipoprotein E (APOE) varepsilon4 carriers across cognitive domains given that possession of this gene variant increases risk of developing dementia in later life. We also explored whether APOE genotype interacts with the cognitive enhancer, nicotine. A total of 1 mg of the cholinergic agonist nicotine was administered through nasal spray to healthy non-smoking young adults (aged 18-30) with either varepsilon3/varepsilon3 (N=29)

SUBMITTER: Marchant NL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3055410 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature