title: Exceptional memory performance in the Long Life Family Study.
abstract: Research to understand variability at the highest end of the cognitive performance distribution has been scarce. Our aim was to define a cognitive endophenotype based on exceptional episodic memory (EM) performance and to investigate familial aggregation of EM in families from the Long Life Family Study (LLFS). Using a sample of 1911 nondemented offspring of long-lived probands, we created a quantitative phenotype, EM (memory z ≥ 1.5), and classified LLFS families as EM and non-EM families based on the number of EM offspring. We then assessed differences in memory performance between LLFS relatives in the parental generation of EM families and those in non-EM families using multivariate analysis adjusted for APOE Apolipoprotein E genotype. LLFS relatives in the proband generation from EM families showed better EM performance than those from non-EM families (β = 0.74, standard error = 0.19, p = 1.4 × 10(-4)). We demonstrated that there is a familial correlation of the EM endophenotype, suggesting that genetic variants might influence memory performance in long-lived families.
authors.affiliation: Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain, Columbia University Medical Center, Department of Neurology, New York, NY 10032, USA. smb2174@columbia.edu
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Barral
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cosentino
authors.forename: Rosann
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Stacey L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.forename: Kaare
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: John H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Eckfeldt
authors.forename: Anne B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Thomas T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Perls
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Province
authors.forename: Evan C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Hadley
authors.forename: Winifred K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mayeux
mesh_terms: D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008136:Longevity / Q000235:genetics*; D008297:Male; D061212:Memory, Episodic; D010641:Phenotype
keywords: Exceptional memory; Genetic variants; Long Life Family Study; Quantitative trait