Executive Function Changes before Memory in Preclinical Alzheimer’s Pathology: A Prospective, Cross-Sectional, Case Control Study

Abstract

Our data suggest that clinical effects from early amyloid pathophysiology precede those from hippocampal intraneuronal neurofibrillary pathology. Altered cerebrospinal fluid beta amyloid42 with decreased executive performance before memory impairment matches the deposits of extracellular amyloid that appear in the basal isocortex first, and only later involve the hippocampus. We propose that Stroop Interference may be an additional important screen for early pathology and useful to monitor treatment of preclinical Alzheimer's disease; measures of executive and memory functions in a longitudinal design will be necessary to more fully evaluate this approach.