title: Low amyloid-β deposition correlates with high education in cognitively normal older adults: a pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Several epidemiological studies have found a lower incidence of Alzheimer's disease in highly educated populations, but the protective mechanism of education against the disease is still unclear. Our objective was to investigate the association between education and (11) C-labeled Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB) uptake with positron emission tomography in participants with normal cognitive ability.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed (11) C-labeled PIB positron emission tomography and neuropsychological testing in 30 cognitively normal older participants. Of the participants, 16 had a period of education less than 12 years (low-education group) and 14 had more than 13 years (high-education group). Amyloid-β deposition was quantified by binding potential (BPND ) in several brain regions and was compared between the groups with different education levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found significantly higher cortical PIB-BPND in the cognitively normal participants with low education compared with the ones with high education. None of the brain regions in low-education group showed significantly lower BPND values. This finding was not affected by the inclusion of possible confounding variables such as age, sex, and general intelligence. Our findings indicated a reduced amyloid pathology in highly educated, cognitively normal, participants.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings lead to the proposal that early-life education has a negative association with Alzheimer's disease pathology. This proposal is not in opposition to the brain reserve hypothesis. People with more education might be prone to a greater inhibitory effect against amyloid-β deposition before the preclinical stage. At the same time, they have a greater reserve capacity, and greater pathological changes are required for dementia to manifest.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan.|Investigative Radiology, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Fumihiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yasuno
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Osaka University Medical School, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kazui
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Katsufumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kajimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ihara
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Japan.|Institute of Biomedical Research and Innovation, Foundation for Biomedical Research and Innovation, Kobe, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taguchi
authors.affiliation: Investigative Radiology, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Akihide
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan.
authors.forename: Kiwamu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Matsuoka
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kosaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Osaka University Health Care Center, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.affiliation: Investigative Radiology, National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center, Suita, Japan.
authors.forename: Hidehiro
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Iida
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kishimoto
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000814:Aniline Compounds / Q000378:metabolism; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism*; D010054:Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010865:Pilot Projects; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000378:metabolism; D013844:Thiazoles / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C475519:2-(4'-(methylamino)phenyl)-6-hydroxybenzothiazole; D016229:Amyloid beta-Peptides; D000814:Aniline Compounds; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D013844:Thiazoles; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18
keywords: 11C-labeled Pittsburgh Compound B ([11C]PIB); Alzheimer's disease (AD); amyloid-β (Aβ); education; positron emission tomography (PET)