COGNITIVE RESERVE, HOMOCYSTEINE, AND COGNITION IN THE BAVARIAN SCHOOL SISTERS STUDY

Distinct brain region activities are correlated with different subdomains of apathy, and high homocysteine levels are associated with smaller frontal lobe volumes, suggesting that different homocysteine-related aspects of apathy in people with AD may be due to brain lesions within distinct frontal areas, which may have different vulnerabilities to homocysteine toxicity. In conclusion, women with AD who have higher plasma homocysteine levels are more likely than women with AD with lower plasma homocysteine levels to develop apathy, especially its cognitive and behavioral aspects. The association between plasma homocysteine levels and apathy seems independent of vascular risks. Further prospective study is warranted to support these causes and effects.

[1]  A. Kurz,et al.  Head circumference, apolipoprotein E genotype and cognition in the Bavarian School Sisters Study , 2012, European Psychiatry.

[2]  S. Juo,et al.  Brain biochemical correlates of the plasma homocysteine level: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study in the elderly subjects. , 2011, The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.

[3]  Robert Perneczky,et al.  Head circumference, atrophy and cognition: implications for brain reserve in Alzheimer's disease , 2011, Alzheimer's & Dementia.

[4]  A. Kurz,et al.  Education, Occupation, and Dementia: The Bavarian School Sisters Study , 2009, Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders.

[5]  W. A. Gool,et al.  Hyperhomocysteinemia and Alzheimer's disease: A systematic review. , 2009, Archives of gerontology and geriatrics.

[6]  Ramon Diaz-Arrastia,et al.  High-dose B vitamin supplementation and cognitive decline in Alzheimer disease: a randomized controlled trial. , 2008, JAMA.

[7]  N. Herrmann,et al.  Apathy associated with Alzheimer disease: use of dextroamphetamine challenge. , 2008, The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.

[8]  R. Green,et al.  Vascular factors and risk for neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer's disease: the Cache County Study , 2008, International Psychogeriatrics.

[9]  Sudha Seshadri,et al.  Association of plasma total homocysteine levels with subclinical brain injury: cerebral volumes, white matter hyperintensity, and silent brain infarcts at volumetric magnetic resonance imaging in the Framingham Offspring Study. , 2008, Archives of neurology.

[10]  J. Darcourt,et al.  Brain perfusion correlates of the apathy inventory dimensions of Alzheimer's disease , 2004, International journal of geriatric psychiatry.

[11]  T. Shea,et al.  Multiple aspects of homocysteine neurotoxicity: Glutamate excitotoxicity, kinase hyperactivation and DNA damage , 2002, Journal of neuroscience research.

[12]  A. Smith,et al.  Plasma homocysteine levels, cerebrovascular risk factors, and cerebral white matter changes (leukoaraiosis) in patients with Alzheimer disease. , 2002, Archives of neurology.

[13]  Sudha Seshadri,et al.  Plasma Homocysteine as a Risk Factor for Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease , 2002 .

[14]  C. Gottfries,et al.  Identification of Cognitive Impairment in the Elderly: Homocysteine Is an Early Marker , 1998, Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders.

[15]  R Clarke,et al.  Folate, vitamin B12, and serum total homocysteine levels in confirmed Alzheimer disease. , 1998, Archives of neurology.

[16]  P. Ueland,et al.  Assessment of homocysteine status , 1997, Journal of Inherited Metabolic Disease.

[17]  P. Pietrini,et al.  Sex differences in human brain morphometry and metabolism: an in vivo quantitative magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography study on the effect of aging. , 1996, Archives of general psychiatry.

[18]  Bruce G. Link,et al.  Relationship between lifetime occupation and parietal flow , 1995, Neurology.

[19]  R. Marin,et al.  Reliability and validity of the apathy evaluation scale , 1991, Psychiatry Research.

[20]  M. Freedman,et al.  Apathy in dementia: an examination of the psychometric properties of the apathy evaluation scale. , 2007, The Journal of neuropsychiatry and clinical neurosciences.