Dual Task Abilities in Alzheimer’s Disease due to E280A Single Presenilin-1 Mutation

Objective: Our previous work has demonstrated that patients with sporadic
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are impaired in their ability to perform
two tasks simultaneously compared to healthy controls, despite being
able to successfully perform the tasks alone relatively well. Yet, it remains
unclear what the earliest clinical manifestation of this dual task
coordination deficit is. In this talk, our recent work examining dual
task abilities in individuals who are at risk of early-onset familial AD
due to an E280A presenilin-1 mutation will be discussed. The aim was
to investigate whether the dual task paradigm can differentiate between
those asymptomatic family members who test positive for the gene mutation
and family members who test negative for the gene mutation.
Participants and Methods: Twelve patients with mild AD, 25 asymptomatic
carriers and 33 non-carriers of the gene mutation were asked
to perform digit recall accompanied by a secondary tracking task.
Results: Despite performing well on a variety of neuropsychological
measures, including episodic memory tasks, the asymptomatic carriers
show dual task decrements compared to those family members without
the gene mutation.