Unawareness (anosognosia) of memory decline in individuals who carry the PSEN1 E280A variant for autosomal-dominant Alzheimer's disease may ...Home»Topics»NeurocognitiveDisorders»AlzheimerDiseaseandDementiaUnawareness(anosognosia)ofmemorydeclineinindividualswhocarrythePSEN1E280Avariantforautosomal-dominantAlzheimer’sdiseasemayserveasanindicatorofcognitiveimpairment,accordingtoastudypublishedinJAMANetworkOpenBecauseoftheriskofapersonputtingthemselvesindangeroussituations,awarenessofmemorydeclineisimportanttoensureindividualswithAlzheimer’smake“healthyandsafe”everydaylifedecisions.Forthisstudy,theresearcherswantedtoassessthechangeinawarenessofmemoryfunctioninearlystagesofAlzheimer’sdisease.ThecohortstudyusedparticipantsenrolledintheColumbiaAlzheimer’sPreventionInitiativeRegistry.Thestudyincluded2,379participants—396ofthemcarriedthepresenilin(PSEN1E280A)variant.Ofthosethatcarriedthevariant,59werecognitivelyimpaired.Theresearchersusedamemorycomplaintscaletomeasureself-awarenessofmemoryperformance.ContinueReadingTheawarenessindexsignificantlydecreasedwithage(mean[SE]estimate,−0.04[0.02]discrepant-pointsperyears;t=−2.2;P=.03)innoncarriersofthevariant.Inthevariantcarriers,awarenessindexdecreasedcomparedwiththenoncarriers(mean[SE]estimate,−0.21[0.04]discrepantpointsperyears;t=−5.1;P<.001).Variantcarrierscomplainedsignificantlymorethannon-variantcarriersuntilthemeanageof35.Theycomplainedsignificantlyless(anosognosia)thannon-variantcarriersatthemeanageof43.Theestimatedmedianageofdementiaonsetinthesegroupswas49years.Cognitivelyunimpairednoncarrierscomplainedsignificantlymorethannon-variantage20and60.Inotherwords,variantcarriersreachedanosognosiaabout6yearsbeforetheestimatedmediandementiaonset.Limitationsincludethatthiswasapseudo-longitudinalstudy.Awarenesswasassessedbymemoryreports,withnoassessmentoflanguageorexecutivefunction.“Newbiobehavioralpreventiveresearchthatfocusesonidentifyingindividualsinapreclinicalstatewhenindependentfunctioninganddecision-makingarepreservedandwhen