APOE-ɛ4 effects on longitudinal decline in olfactory and non-olfactory cognitive abilities in middle-aged and old adults.

ABSTRACT: Characterizing aging-related decline trajectories in mental abilities, and relationships of the ɛ4 allele of the Apolipoprotein gene, helps to identify individuals at high risk for dementia. However, longitudinal changes in olfactory and non-olfactory cognitive abilities have not been investigated in relation to the ɛ4 allele. In the present study, participants from a large population-based study (657 middle-aged and 556 old) were tested over 10 years on their performance on an odor identification task and three non-olfactory cognitive tasks; MMSE, episodic memory, and semantic memory. Our key finding is that in middle-aged participants, odor identification declined twice as fast for ɛ4/4 homozygotes, compared to non-carriers. However, in old participants, the ɛ4/4 homozygotes showed an im

SUBMITTER: Josefsson M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5430873 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature