Introduction: Modifiable health and lifestyle factors increase risk of dementia, but whether modifiable factors, when measured in late-midlife, impact the emergence or progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathophysiologic or cognitive changes remains unresolved.
Methods: In initially cognitively unimpaired, late middle-aged participants (N = 1215; baseline age, M [standard deviation] = 59.3 [6.7] years) from the Wisconsin Registry for Alzheimer's Prevention (WRAP), we investigated the influence of the Lifestyle for Brain Health (LIBRA) index, a lifestyle-based dementia risk score, on AD-related cognitive trajectories and amyloid beta (Aβ) plaque accumulation.
Results: Overall, lower baseline LIBRA, denoting healthier lifestyle and lower dementia risk, was related to better overall cognitive performance, but did not moderate apolipoprotein E ε4 or Aβ-related longitudinal cognitive trajectories. LIBRA was not significantly associated with Aβ accumulation or estimated age of Aβ onset.
Discussion: In WRAP, late-midlife LIBRA scores were related to overall cognitive performance, but not AD-related cognitive decline or Aβ accumulation in the preclinical timeframe.
Highlights: The Lifestyle for Brain Health (LIBRA) index was associated with cognitive performance in late-midlife.LIBRA did not moderate apolipoprotein E ε4 or amyloid-related cognitive decline.LIBRA was not associated with the onset or accumulation of amyloid plaques.
Keywords: amyloid; apolipoprotein E ε4; biomarkers; cognitive impairment; lifestyle; positron emission tomography; preclinical Alzheimer's disease; risk factors.
© 2022 The Authors. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring published by Wiley Periodicals, LLC on behalf of Alzheimer's Association.