Anxiety symptoms, cerebral amyloid burden and memory decline in healthy older adults without dementia: 3-year prospective cohort study

R.H. Pietrzak, J.C. Scott, A. Neumeister, Y. Lim, D.J. Ames, K.A. Ellis, K.D. Harrington, Nicola Lautenschlager, C.E.I. Szoeke, Ralph Martins, V.L. Villemagne, C.C. Rowe., P.T. Maruff, C.L. Masters

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    35 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Although beta-amyloid, anxiety and depression have been linked cross-sectionally to reduced memory function in healthy older adults without dementia, prospective data evaluating these associations are lacking. Using data from an observational cohort study of 178 healthy older adults without dementia followed for 3 years, we found that anxiety symptoms significantly moderated the relationship between beta-amyloid level and decline in verbal (Cohen's d = 0.65) and episodic (Cohen's d = 0.38) memory. Anxiety symptoms were additionally linked to greater decline in executive function, irrespective of beta-amyloid and other risk factors. These findings suggest that interventions to mitigate anxiety symptoms may help delay memory decline in otherwise healthy older adults with elevated beta-amyloid.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)400-401
    JournalBritish Journal of Psychiatry
    Volume204
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2014

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