Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Brain gene APOE e4 linked to dementia

 

Tom Pugh
Wednesday 14 November 2012 10:16 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

A gene with links to late-onset dementia is also suspected of boosting people's brains in their youth, according to a study.

People who inherit one copy of the gene variant, known as APOE e4, have up to four times the normal risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in later life.

Neuroscientists tested the cognitive skills of those with the gene variant, which is found in around a quarter of the population, against those without it.

They also looked at the brain structure and brain activities of both groups during the tasks.

The study, led by the University of Sussex, found that young people with the same variant performed better in attention tests, including episodic memory of words and spotting number sequences.

Experts suggested that while the e4 variant might help boost the brain in early life, it could also increase the possibility of "burnout" in old age.

Lead researcher Professor Jennifer Rusted said: "Earlier studies suggested that those with the e4 variant outperform those without it in tasks such as memory, speed of processing, mental arithmetic and verbal fluency.

"But it is also well-established that this gene is a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease.

"The suggestion is that while this confers cognitive advantages in early life, leading to higher achievement, it may also increase susceptibility to memory failure as we enter old age.

"Our study is the first to show that subtle differences in the structure and activation of the brain during cognitive tasks in APOE e4 carriers are linked to their cognitive performance.

"It is possible that the brain over-activations that we see in youth have negative effects over the longer term and contribute to a kind of 'burnout' in older adulthood."

The study - APOE e4 polymorphism in young adults is associated with improved attention and indexed by distinct neural signatures - was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and is published in NeuroImage.

PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in