title: Neurological soft signs are associated with APOE genotype, age and cognitive performance.
abstract: Neurodegeneration is associated with increased frequency of neurological soft signs (NSS). We designed the present study to investigate the association between NSS and subjective memory complaints, cognitive function and apolipoprotein E genotype in a community-dwelling sample of volunteers participating in an ongoing longitudinal program investigating predictors of cognitive decline. NSS were found to be associated with apolipoprotein E (APOE) epsilon4 genotype (p = 0.015), age (p = 0.012) and poor cognitive performance, as assessed by the Mini Mental State Examination (p = 0.053). There was no significant difference between subjects with and without memory complaints in relation to the frequency of NSS (p = 0.130). The association with age and the APOE epsilon4 genotype suggests that the systematic investigation of NSS may contribute to identify subjects at risk of clinically significant cognitive decline in later life.
authors.affiliation: University of Western Australia, School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, Perth, WA, Australia.
authors.forename: N T
authors.initials: NT
authors.lastname: Lautenschlager
authors.forename: Jing-Shan
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Laws
authors.forename: O P
authors.initials: OP
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Clarnette
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Joesbury
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wagenpfeil
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Paton
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Gandy
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Förstl
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Martins
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001057:Apolipoproteins E / Q000235:genetics*; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001057:Apolipoproteins E