Cognitive Outcome Measures for Tracking Alzheimer's Disease in Down Syndrome

Overview

Journal Int Rev Res Dev Disabil

Date 2023 Jul 3

PMID 37396708

Authors

Victoria Fleming

Christy L Hom

Isabel C H Clare

Shemaya L Hurd-Thomas

Sharon Krinsky-McHale

Benjamin Handen

Sigan L Hartley

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Down syndrome (DS) is now viewed as a genetic type of Alzheimer's disease (AD), given the near-universal presence of AD pathology in middle adulthood and the elevated risk for developing clinical AD in DS. As the field of DS prepares for AD clinical intervention trials, there is a strong need to identify cognitive measures that are specific and sensitive to the transition from being cognitively stable to the prodromal (e.g., Mild Cognitive Impairment-Down syndrome) and clinical AD (e.g., Dementia) stages of the disease in DS. It is also important to determine cognitive measures that map onto biomarkers of early AD pathology during the transition from the preclinical to the prodromal stage of the disease, as this transition period is likely to be targeted and tracked in AD clinical trials. The present chapter discusses the current state of research on cognitive measures that could be used to screen/select study participants and as potential outcome measures in future AD clinical trials with adults with DS. In this chapter, we also identify key challenges that need to be overcome and questions that need to be addressed by the DS field as it prepares for AD clinical trials in the coming years.

Citing Articles

Characterizing the emergence of amyloid and tau burden in Down syndrome.

Zammit M, Betthauser T, McVea A, Laymon C, Tudorascu D, Johnson S Alzheimers Dement. 2023; 20(1):388-398.

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Considerations for measuring individual outcomes across contexts in Down syndrome: Implications for research and clinical trials.

Esbensen A, Schworer E, Fidler D, Thurman A Int Rev Res Dev Disabil. 2022; 62:191-225.

PMID: 36213318 PMC: 9536481. DOI: 10.1016/bs.irrdd.2022.05.005.

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