Journal of Alzheimers Disease & Parkinsonism
Open Access

Research Article

Effects of Age, APOE ε 4, Cognitive Reserve and Hippocampal Volume on Cognitive Intervention Outcome in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

¹Institute for Stroke and Dementia Research, Klinikum der Universität München, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Feodor Lynen Strasse 17, 81377 Munich, Germany

²Department of Psychiatry, Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Julius-Kühn-Straße 7, 06112, Halle/Saale, Germany

³Institute for Clinical Radiology, Klinikum der Universität München, Ludwig-Maximilian University, Marchioninistraße 15, 81377 Munich, Germany

⁴Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University of Rostock, Gehlsheimer Str. 20, 18147 Rostock, Germany

⁵German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE, Rostock), Gehlsheimer Strasse 20, 18147 Rostock, Germany

⁶Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany

⁷German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE, Munich), Feodor Lynen Strasse 17, 81377 Munich, Germany

*Corresponding Author:

Nicolai Franzmeier
Klinikum der Universität München, Institut für Schlaganfall-und Demenzforschung (ISD)
Feodor-Lynenstraße 17, D-81377 Munich
Tel: +49 (0) 89440046162
E-mail: nicolai.franzmeier@med.uni-muenchen.de

Received date: June 18, 2016; Accepted date: June 30, 2016; Published date: July 07, 2016

Citation: Franzmeier N, Unterauer E, Ewers M, Düring M, Mueller C, et al. (2016) Effects of Age, APOE ε4, Cognitive Reserve and Hippocampal Volume on Cognitive Intervention Outcome in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment. J Alzheimers Dis Parkinsonism 6:246. doi:10.4172/2161-0460.1000246

Copyright: © 2016 Franzmeier N, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Here we studied intervention outcome and potential predictors for cognitive intervention effects in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI), a population at risk of Alzheimer’s disease. We included 100 aMCI patients (cognitive intervention group, n=69; active control group, n=31) that underwent a previously established 6-month group-based multicomponent cognitive intervention or an active control condition. As a primary endpoint we defined changes in global cognition (Alzheimer’s Disease Assessment Scale – Cognitive Subscale, ADAS-Cog). Secondary endpoints were changes in verbal and visual episodic memory (California Verbal Learning Test, CVLT; Face Name Learning Test, FNL). Overall, we found no improvements in our primary outcome ADAS-Cog. Group by time interactions were found for CVLT learning (p=0.031), with improvements in the intervention group and deteriorations in the control group. The intervention group deteriorated in FNL learning (p=0.001) and the control group deteriorated in FNL recall (p=0.048). The main focus of the study was, however, whether intervention outcome was predicted by factors that are known to affect disease progression. As predictors we selected age, APOE carrier status, cognitive reserve, and hippocampal volume. In linear regression analyses, lower hippocampal volume predicted deteriorations in ADAS-Cog (p=0.035) and CVLT recall (p=0.016), whereas younger age (p=0.011) and APOE ε4 non-carrier status (p=0.024) predicted improvements in CVLT learning. Lower cognitive reserve predicted deteriorations in FNL recall (p=0.008). Regarding the modest intervention effects, our results challenge a general recommendation of cognitive interventions in aMCI. Rather, our findings suggest that younger patients, APOE ε4 non-carriers, and patients with higher CR and higher hippocampal volume have a higher likelihood to benefit from a cognitive intervention, which could be useful for the selection of patients for future intervention trials.

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