Face-name associative memory performance is related to amyloid burden in normal elderly

Cerebral amyloid beta (A beta) deposition occurs in a substantial fraction of cognitively normal (CN) older individuals. However, it has been difficult to reliably detect evidence of amyloid-related cognitive alterations in CN using standard neuropsychological measures. We sought to determine whether a highly demanding face-name associative memory exam (FNAME) could detect evidence of A beta-related memory impairment in CN. We studied 45 CN subjects (mean age = 71.7 +/- 8.8) with Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores = 0 and MMSE >= 28, using Positron Emission Tomography with Pittsburgh Compound B (PiB PET). Memory factor scores were derived from a principal components analysis for FNAME name retrieval (FNN), FNAME occupation retrieval (FN-O) and the 6-Trial Selective Reminding Test (SRT). Using multiple linear and logistic regression analyses, we related the memory factor scores to PiB distribution volume ratios (DVR, cerebellar reference) as either a continuous or a dichotomous variable in frontal cortex and a posterior cortical region representing the precuneus, posterior cingulate and lateral parietal cortices (PPCLP), co-varying for age and AMNART IQ (a proxy of cognitive reserve (CR)). A significant inverse relationship for FN-N was found with A beta deposition in frontal (R-2 = 0.29, beta = -2.2, p = 0.02) and PPCLP cortices (R-2 = 0.26, beta = -2.4, p = 0.05). In contrast, neither FN-O nor the SRT were significantly related to A beta deposition. Performance on a demanding test of face-name associative memory was related to A beta burden in brain regions associated with memory systems. Associative memory for faces and names, a common complaint among older adults, may be a sensitive marker of early A beta-related impairment. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.