Neuropsychological profile of Alzheimer’s disease based on amyloid biomarker findings results from a South American cohort

CLARENS, MARIA FLORENCIA; CRIVELLI, LUCIA; CALANDRI, ISMAEL; CHREM MÉNDEZ, PATRICIO; MARTIN, MARÍA EUGENIA; RUSSO, MARÍA JULIETA; CAMPOS, JORGE; SURACE, EZEQUIEL; VÁZQUEZ, SILVIA; SEVLEVER, GUSTAVO; ALLEGRI, RICARDO FRANCISCO

Applied Neuropsychology: Adult

Taylor and Francis Group

Año: 2020 p. 1 - 6

2327-9095

Objective: Increased life expectancy and exponential growth of adults suffering from Alzheimer?sdisease (AD) worldwide, has led to biomarkers incorporation for diagnosis in early stages. Use ofneuropsychological testing remains limited. This study aimed to identify which neuropsychologicaltests best indicated underlying AD pathophysiology.Methods: One hundred and forty-one patients with MCI (Mild Cognitive Impairment) werestudied. A neuropsychological test battery based on the Uniform Data Set (UDS) from theAlzheimer?s Disease Centers program of the National Institute on Aging (NIA) was performed andamyloid markers recorded; according to presence or absence of amyloid identified by positive PIBPET findings, or low CSF Ab42 levels, patients were separated into MCI amyloid?(n:58) and MCIamyloid þ (n ¼ 83) cases.Results: Statistical differences were found in all memory tests between groups. Delayed recallscore at thirty minutes on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (AVLT) was the best predictor ofamyloid pathology presence (AUC 0.68), followed by AVLT total learning (AUC 0.66) and AVLTRecognition (AUC 0.59) scores, providing useful cut off values in the clinical setting.Conclusions: Use of neuropsychological testing, specifically AVLT scores with cutoff values, contributed to the correct diagnosis of MCI due to AD in this SouthAmerican cohort