Exploring semantic verbal fluency patterns and their relationship to age and Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome

Farah Mgaieth; R Asaad Baksh; Carla M Startin; Sarah Hamburg; Rosalyn Hithersay; Sarah Pape; Henrik Zetterberg; Nicholas J Ashton; Miren Tamayo-Elizalde; Fedal Saini; Mina Idris; The LonDownS Consortium; Andre Strydom

doi:10.1002/alz.13097

Exploring semantic verbal fluency patterns and their relationship to age and Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome

Farah Mgaieth, R Asaad Baksh, Carla M Startin, Sarah Hamburg, Rosalyn Hithersay, Sarah Pape, Henrik Zetterberg, Nicholas J Ashton, Miren Tamayo-Elizalde, Fedal Saini, Mina Idris, The LonDownS Consortium, Andre Strydom

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Adults with Down syndrome (DS) are at ultra-high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), characterized by poor episodic memory and semantic fluency in the preclinical phase in the general population. We explored semantic fluency performance in DS and its relationship to age, AD, and blood biomarkers.

METHODS: A total of 302 adults with DS at baseline and 87 at follow-up from the London Down Syndrome Consortium cohort completed neuropsychological assessments. Blood biomarkers were measured with the single molecule array technique in a subset of 94 participants.

RESULTS: Poorer verbal fluency performance was observed as age increases. Number of correct words declined in those with AD compared to those without over 2 years and was negatively correlated with neurofilament light (r = -0.37, P = .001) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (r = -0.31, P = .012).

DISCUSSION: Semantic fluency may be useful as an early indicator of cognitive decline and provide additional information on AD-related change, showing associations with biomarkers in DS.

Original language	English
Journal	Alzheimers and Dementia
Early online date	28 Apr 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13097
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 28 Apr 2023

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10.1002/alz.13097

https://alz-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/alz.13097

Cite this

Mgaieth, F., Baksh, R. A., Startin, C. M., Hamburg, S., Hithersay, R., Pape, S., Zetterberg, H., Ashton, N. J., Tamayo-Elizalde, M., Saini, F., Idris, M., Consortium, T. L., & Strydom, A. (2023). Exploring semantic verbal fluency patterns and their relationship to age and Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome. Alzheimers and Dementia. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13097

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title = "Exploring semantic verbal fluency patterns and their relationship to age and Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome",

abstract = "INTRODUCTION: Adults with Down syndrome (DS) are at ultra-high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), characterized by poor episodic memory and semantic fluency in the preclinical phase in the general population. We explored semantic fluency performance in DS and its relationship to age, AD, and blood biomarkers.METHODS: A total of 302 adults with DS at baseline and 87 at follow-up from the London Down Syndrome Consortium cohort completed neuropsychological assessments. Blood biomarkers were measured with the single molecule array technique in a subset of 94 participants.RESULTS: Poorer verbal fluency performance was observed as age increases. Number of correct words declined in those with AD compared to those without over 2 years and was negatively correlated with neurofilament light (r = -0.37, P = .001) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (r = -0.31, P = .012).DISCUSSION: Semantic fluency may be useful as an early indicator of cognitive decline and provide additional information on AD-related change, showing associations with biomarkers in DS.",

author = "Farah Mgaieth and Baksh, {R Asaad} and Startin, {Carla M} and Sarah Hamburg and Rosalyn Hithersay and Sarah Pape and Henrik Zetterberg and Ashton, {Nicholas J} and Miren Tamayo-Elizalde and Fedal Saini and Mina Idris and Consortium, {The LonDownS} and Andre Strydom",

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doi = "10.1002/alz.13097",

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T1 - Exploring semantic verbal fluency patterns and their relationship to age and Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome

AU - Mgaieth, Farah

AU - Baksh, R Asaad

AU - Startin, Carla M

AU - Hamburg, Sarah

AU - Hithersay, Rosalyn

AU - Pape, Sarah

AU - Zetterberg, Henrik

AU - Ashton, Nicholas J

AU - Tamayo-Elizalde, Miren

AU - Saini, Fedal

AU - Idris, Mina

AU - Consortium, The LonDownS

AU - Strydom, Andre

PY - 2023/4/28

Y1 - 2023/4/28

N2 - INTRODUCTION: Adults with Down syndrome (DS) are at ultra-high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), characterized by poor episodic memory and semantic fluency in the preclinical phase in the general population. We explored semantic fluency performance in DS and its relationship to age, AD, and blood biomarkers.METHODS: A total of 302 adults with DS at baseline and 87 at follow-up from the London Down Syndrome Consortium cohort completed neuropsychological assessments. Blood biomarkers were measured with the single molecule array technique in a subset of 94 participants.RESULTS: Poorer verbal fluency performance was observed as age increases. Number of correct words declined in those with AD compared to those without over 2 years and was negatively correlated with neurofilament light (r = -0.37, P = .001) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (r = -0.31, P = .012).DISCUSSION: Semantic fluency may be useful as an early indicator of cognitive decline and provide additional information on AD-related change, showing associations with biomarkers in DS.

AB - INTRODUCTION: Adults with Down syndrome (DS) are at ultra-high risk of developing Alzheimer's disease (AD), characterized by poor episodic memory and semantic fluency in the preclinical phase in the general population. We explored semantic fluency performance in DS and its relationship to age, AD, and blood biomarkers.METHODS: A total of 302 adults with DS at baseline and 87 at follow-up from the London Down Syndrome Consortium cohort completed neuropsychological assessments. Blood biomarkers were measured with the single molecule array technique in a subset of 94 participants.RESULTS: Poorer verbal fluency performance was observed as age increases. Number of correct words declined in those with AD compared to those without over 2 years and was negatively correlated with neurofilament light (r = -0.37, P = .001) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (r = -0.31, P = .012).DISCUSSION: Semantic fluency may be useful as an early indicator of cognitive decline and provide additional information on AD-related change, showing associations with biomarkers in DS.

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