Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
1996-9-19
pubmed:abstractText
It is well known that beta-amyloid accumulates abnormally in Alzheimer's disease; however, beta-amyloid's relationship to cognitive dysfunction has not been clearly established and is often confounded by the presence of neurofibrillary tangles. We used canines to investigate the relationship between beta-amyloid accumulation and cognitive function in an animal model of aging lacking neurofibrillary tangles. The performance of 20 canines (11 purebred beagles and 9 mongrels) on a battery of six cognitive tasks was measured. These tasks included Reward Approach and Object Approach learning, as well as Discrimination, Reversal, Object Recognition, and Spatial learning and memory. Aged canines were impaired on some tasks but not others. beta-Amyloid-immunopositive plaques were found in many of the older animals. Plaques were all of the diffuse subtype and many contained intact neurons detected with double-labeling for neurofilaments. No neurofibrillary tangles were detected. beta-Amyloid was also associated with the processes of many neurons and with blood vessels. Using computerized image analysis, we quantified the area occupied by beta-amyloid in entorhinal cortex, frontal cortex, and cerebellum. Controlling for age-related increases in beta-amyloid, we observed that increased beta-amyloid deposition is strongly associated with deficits on Discrimination learning (r = .80), Reversal learning (r = .65), and Spatial learning (r = .54) but not the other tasks. There were a few differences between breeds which are discussed in the text. Overall, these data suggest that beta-amyloid deposition may be a contributing factor to age-related cognitive dysfunction prior to the onset of neurofibrillary tangle formation.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jul
pubmed:issn
1074-7427
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
66
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
11-23
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-11-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1996
pubmed:articleTitle
Beta-amyloid accumulation correlates with cognitive dysfunction in the aged canine.
pubmed:affiliation
Institute for Brain Aging and Dementia, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, California, 92717-4550, USA.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't