Functional Asymmetry During Working Memory and Its Association with Markers of Alzheimer's Disease in Cognitively Normal Older Adults

Background: Amyloid-beta (A beta) deposits asymmetrically early in Alzheimer's disease (AD). This process is variable and has been associated with asymmetric hypometabolism. Objective: We investigated whether neural asymmetry during working memory and executive function processing was associated with AD genetic risk and markers of AD as well as other brain neuropathology biomarkers, cognitive function, and cognitive reserve in cognitively normal older adults. Methods: We analyzed data from 77 cognitively healthy, older adults who completed functional magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and cognitive testing. We identified regions of significant activation and asymmetry during the Digital Symbol Substitution Task (DSST). We examined associations between regions with significant hemispheric asymmetry (directional and absolute) and global cerebral A beta, cerebral glucose metabolism, white matter hyperintensities, APOE epsilon 4 allele status, DSST reaction time, age, sex, education, and cognitive function. Results: Asymmetry was not associated with several factors including cognitive function, A beta, and white matter hyperintensities. The presence of at least one epsilon 4 APOE allele in participants was associated with less asymmetric activation in the angular gyrus (right dominant activation). Greater education was associated with less asymmetric activation in mediodorsal thalamus (left dominant activation). Conclusions: Genetic risk of AD was associated with lower asymmetry in angular gyrus activation, while greater education was associated with lower asymmetry in mediodorsal thalamus activation. Changes in asymmetry may reflect components of compensation or cognitive reserve. Asymmetric neural recruitment during working memory may be related to maintenance of cognitive function in cognitively normal older adults.

Automated summary

This study found that genetic risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and markers of AD are associated with neural asymmetry during working memory and executive function processing. Individuals with higher genetic risk of AD showed lower asymmetry in angular gyrus activation, while individuals with higher education showed lower asymmetry in mediodorsal thalamus activation.