Melissa E Murray, PhD, Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL, emphasizes the importance of studying Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in populations under the age of 65. Looking at brain tissue reveals that individuals with young-onset AD develop nearly twice the amount of tau and amyloid pathology than older individuals, but in different key regions. The corticolimbic index (CLix), scored from 0 to 40, quantifies whether an individual has more cortical or limbic pathology. When CLix scores were compared with information gained in clinical visits, age at onset emerged as the most predictive feature for the cortical predominant phenotype. Those with lower CLix scores, indicating more cortical pathology, were typically younger, male, and less likely to have the APOE E4 gene. Younger individuals with more cortical phenotypes also showed a stronger impact on their cholinergic systems. This interview took place at the AP/PD™ 2024 congress in Lisbon, Portugal.
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