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

Farah Mgaieth; Asaad Baksh; Carla Startin; Sarah Hamburg; Rosalyn Hithersay; Sarah Pape; Henrik Zetterberg; Nick Ashton; Miren Tamayo Elizalde; Fedal Saini; Mina Idris; 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^*, Asaad Baksh, Carla Startin, Sarah Hamburg, Rosalyn Hithersay, Sarah Pape, Henrik Zetterberg, Nick Ashton, Miren Tamayo Elizalde, Fedal Saini, Mina Idris, Andre Strydom

^*Corresponding author for this work

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

4 Citations (Scopus)

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
Pages (from-to)	5129-5137
Number of pages	9
Journal	Alzheimer's & Dementia
Volume	19
Issue number	11
Early online date	28 Apr 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13097
Publication status	Published - Nov 2023

Access to Document

10.1002/alz.13097Licence: CC BY-NC

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

Cite this

Mgaieth, F., Baksh, A., Startin, C., Hamburg, S., Hithersay, R., Pape, S., Zetterberg, H., Ashton, N., Tamayo Elizalde, M., Saini, F., Idris, M., & Strydom, A. (2023). Exploring semantic verbal fluency patterns and their relationship to age and Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome. Alzheimer's & Dementia, 19(11), 5129-5137. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13097

@article{9061586eef8c4c8c91976012782b0028,

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

abstract = "IntroductionAdults 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.MethodsA 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.ResultsPoorer 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).DiscussionSemantic 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 Asaad Baksh and Carla Startin and Sarah Hamburg and Rosalyn Hithersay and Sarah Pape and Henrik Zetterberg and Nick Ashton and {Tamayo Elizalde}, Miren and Fedal Saini and Mina Idris and Andre Strydom",

note = "Funding Information: The authors would like to thank all the participants and their parents and caregivers in this study for their time. This research was supported by the National Institute for Health Research networks (mental health, dementias, and neurology) and participating NHS trusts. We would like to thank our NHS network of sites that helped to identify participants. This research was funded by Wellcome Trust Strategic Award (grant number: 098330/Z/12/Z) conferred upon The London Down Syndrome (LonDownS) Consortium; Medical Research Council grant MR/S011277/1, MR/ S005145/1, and MR/R024901/1; European Commission (H2020 SC1 Gene overdosage and comorbidities during the early lifetime in Down Syndrome GO‐DS21‐ 848077); and Alzheimer's Society AS‐CP‐18‐0020 (fellowship to S.E.P). R.A.B was supported by a J{\'e}r{\^o}me Lejeune Foundation postdoctoral research fellowship. H.Z. is a Wallenberg Scholar supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council (#2022‐01018), the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101053962, Swedish State Support for Clinical Research (#ALFGBG‐71320), the Alzheimer Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), USA (#201809‐2016862), the AD Strategic Fund and the Alzheimer's Association (#ADSF‐21‐831376‐C, #ADSF‐21‐831381‐C, and #ADSF‐21‐831377‐C), the Bluefield Project, the Olav Thon Foundation, the Erling‐Persson Family Foundation, Stiftelsen f{\"o}r Gamla Tj{\"a}narinnor, Hj{\"a}rnfonden, Sweden (#FO2022‐0270), the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk{\l}odowska‐Curie grant agreement No 860197 (MIRIADE), the European Union Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND2021‐00694), and the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL (UKDRI‐1003). For the purposes of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to any Accepted Author Manuscript version arising from this submission. Funding Information: The authors would like to thank all the participants and their parents and caregivers in this study for their time. This research was supported by the National Institute for Health Research networks (mental health, dementias, and neurology) and participating NHS trusts. We would like to thank our NHS network of sites that helped to identify participants. This research was funded by Wellcome Trust Strategic Award (grant number: 098330/Z/12/Z) conferred upon The London Down Syndrome (LonDownS) Consortium; Medical Research Council grant MR/S011277/1, MR/ S005145/1, and MR/R024901/1; European Commission (H2020 SC1 Gene overdosage and comorbidities during the early lifetime in Down Syndrome GO-DS21- 848077); and Alzheimer's Society AS-CP-18-0020 (fellowship to S.E.P). R.A.B was supported by a J{\'e}r{\^o}me Lejeune Foundation postdoctoral research fellowship. H.Z. is a Wallenberg Scholar supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council (#2022-01018), the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101053962, Swedish State Support for Clinical Research (#ALFGBG-71320), the Alzheimer Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), USA (#201809-2016862), the AD Strategic Fund and the Alzheimer's Association (#ADSF-21-831376-C, #ADSF-21-831381-C, and #ADSF-21-831377-C), the Bluefield Project, the Olav Thon Foundation, the Erling-Persson Family Foundation, Stiftelsen f{\"o}r Gamla Tj{\"a}narinnor, Hj{\"a}rnfonden, Sweden (#FO2022-0270), the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk{\l}odowska-Curie grant agreement No 860197 (MIRIADE), the European Union Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND2021-00694), and the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL (UKDRI-1003). For the purposes of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to any Accepted Author Manuscript version arising from this submission. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.",

year = "2023",

month = nov,

doi = "10.1002/alz.13097",

language = "English",

volume = "19",

pages = "5129--5137",

journal = "Alzheimer's & Dementia",

issn = "1552-5260",

number = "11",

}

Mgaieth, F , Baksh, A , Startin, C , Hamburg, S, Hithersay, R, Pape, S, Zetterberg, H, Ashton, N , Tamayo Elizalde, M , Saini, F , Idris, M & Strydom, A 2023, 'Exploring semantic verbal fluency patterns and their relationship to age and Alzheimer's disease in adults with Down syndrome', Alzheimer's & Dementia, vol. 19, no. 11, pp. 5129-5137. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.13097

TY - JOUR

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, Asaad

AU - Startin, Carla

AU - Hamburg, Sarah

AU - Hithersay, Rosalyn

AU - Pape, Sarah

AU - Zetterberg, Henrik

AU - Ashton, Nick

AU - Tamayo Elizalde, Miren

AU - Saini, Fedal

AU - Idris, Mina

AU - Strydom, Andre

N1 - Funding Information: The authors would like to thank all the participants and their parents and caregivers in this study for their time. This research was supported by the National Institute for Health Research networks (mental health, dementias, and neurology) and participating NHS trusts. We would like to thank our NHS network of sites that helped to identify participants. This research was funded by Wellcome Trust Strategic Award (grant number: 098330/Z/12/Z) conferred upon The London Down Syndrome (LonDownS) Consortium; Medical Research Council grant MR/S011277/1, MR/ S005145/1, and MR/R024901/1; European Commission (H2020 SC1 Gene overdosage and comorbidities during the early lifetime in Down Syndrome GO‐DS21‐ 848077); and Alzheimer's Society AS‐CP‐18‐0020 (fellowship to S.E.P). R.A.B was supported by a Jérôme Lejeune Foundation postdoctoral research fellowship. H.Z. is a Wallenberg Scholar supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council (#2022‐01018), the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101053962, Swedish State Support for Clinical Research (#ALFGBG‐71320), the Alzheimer Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), USA (#201809‐2016862), the AD Strategic Fund and the Alzheimer's Association (#ADSF‐21‐831376‐C, #ADSF‐21‐831381‐C, and #ADSF‐21‐831377‐C), the Bluefield Project, the Olav Thon Foundation, the Erling‐Persson Family Foundation, Stiftelsen för Gamla Tjänarinnor, Hjärnfonden, Sweden (#FO2022‐0270), the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska‐Curie grant agreement No 860197 (MIRIADE), the European Union Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND2021‐00694), and the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL (UKDRI‐1003). For the purposes of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to any Accepted Author Manuscript version arising from this submission. Funding Information: The authors would like to thank all the participants and their parents and caregivers in this study for their time. This research was supported by the National Institute for Health Research networks (mental health, dementias, and neurology) and participating NHS trusts. We would like to thank our NHS network of sites that helped to identify participants. This research was funded by Wellcome Trust Strategic Award (grant number: 098330/Z/12/Z) conferred upon The London Down Syndrome (LonDownS) Consortium; Medical Research Council grant MR/S011277/1, MR/ S005145/1, and MR/R024901/1; European Commission (H2020 SC1 Gene overdosage and comorbidities during the early lifetime in Down Syndrome GO-DS21- 848077); and Alzheimer's Society AS-CP-18-0020 (fellowship to S.E.P). R.A.B was supported by a Jérôme Lejeune Foundation postdoctoral research fellowship. H.Z. is a Wallenberg Scholar supported by grants from the Swedish Research Council (#2022-01018), the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101053962, Swedish State Support for Clinical Research (#ALFGBG-71320), the Alzheimer Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), USA (#201809-2016862), the AD Strategic Fund and the Alzheimer's Association (#ADSF-21-831376-C, #ADSF-21-831381-C, and #ADSF-21-831377-C), the Bluefield Project, the Olav Thon Foundation, the Erling-Persson Family Foundation, Stiftelsen för Gamla Tjänarinnor, Hjärnfonden, Sweden (#FO2022-0270), the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 860197 (MIRIADE), the European Union Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND2021-00694), and the UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL (UKDRI-1003). For the purposes of open access, the author has applied a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to any Accepted Author Manuscript version arising from this submission. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.

PY - 2023/11

Y1 - 2023/11

N2 - IntroductionAdults 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.MethodsA 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.ResultsPoorer 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).DiscussionSemantic 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 - IntroductionAdults 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.MethodsA 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.ResultsPoorer 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).DiscussionSemantic 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.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85160629675&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/alz.13097

DO - 10.1002/alz.13097

M3 - Article

SN - 1552-5260

VL - 19

SP - 5129

EP - 5137

JO - Alzheimer's & Dementia

JF - Alzheimer's & Dementia

IS - 11

ER -

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

Abstract

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this