| Poster | Poster Session 06 Program Schedule
02/15/2024
04:00 pm - 05:15 pm
Room: Majestic Complex (Posters 61-120)
Poster Session 06: Aging | MCI | Neurodegenerative Disease - PART 2
Final Abstract #64
Upper Extremity Motor Dysfunction in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease
Vincent Koppelmans, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States
Marit Ruitenberg, Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands
Jace King, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States
Jos van der Geest, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Sydney Schaefer, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States
Kevin Duff, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, United States
John Hoffman, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, United States
Category: Dementia (Alzheimer's Disease)
Keyword 1: dementia - Alzheimer's disease
Keyword 2: motor function
Keyword 3: hippocampus
Objective:
Despite reports of gross motor problems such as slowing of gait and decreased standing balance performance in Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), upper extremity function has been understudied. We examined if upper extremity motor tasks can distinguish between cognitively normal (CN), MCI and AD subjects, and if they are associated with AD biomarkers.
Participants and Methods:
53 CN, 33 MCI, and 28 AD participants completed Trail Making Test Part A (TMT-A) and tests of grip strength (dominant and non-dominant) measured using a hand dynamometer, finger tapping (dominant, non-dominant, synchronous, and alternate) measured using computerized finger tapping test with the shift keys for input, computerized Archimedes spiral tracing with a pen tablet as input, and a simulated feeding task requiring participants to move beans between cups using a spoon in sequence. Linear regression analysis adjusted for age and sex was used to compare groups. Partial correlation analysis adjusted for age and sex was used to test whole-sample associations between manual measures and AD biomarkers (i.e., amyloid deposition/uptake from PET, hippocampal volume from MRI, and number of APOE e4 alleles from blood). Reported p-values are adjusted for multiple comparisons using the FDR.
Results:
MCI subjects had longer reaction times for non-dominant hand tapping (p=.034) and longer reaction times and more variable tapping during synchronous tapping (p=.003; p=.0201) than CN. AD subjects had slower psychomotor speed (TMT-A; p<.001), slower dominant hand finger tapping (p=.020), slower initial reaction time and more variable non-dominant hand tapping (p=.004; p=.004), slower reaction time and more variable alternate finger tapping (p=<.001; p=<.001), as well as slower and more variable performance on the simulated feeding task (p<.001; p=<.001) than CN subjects. Hippocampal volume correlated positively with speed and learning rate of the simulated feeding task (p=<.001; .020), while it correlated negatively with speed variability of the simulated feeding task (p=.021) and psychomotor speed (p=.025). Amyloid deposition/uptake negatively correlated with psychomotor speed (p=.004) and speed on the simulated feeding task (p=<.001), while it correlated positively with speed variability of the simulated feeding task (p=<.001). The number of APOE e4 alleles negatively correlated with psychomotor speed (p=.045) and speed of the simulated feeding task (p=.007). Spiral tracing performance was not different between groups, nor associated with biomarkers.
Conclusions:
Upper extremity motor performance appears progressively affected in MCI and AD and correlates with AD biomarkers, particularly requiring coordinated finger movements. As such, upper extremity measures have potential to augment existing screening tools for AD. Their ease of administration and cost-effectiveness makes them ideal candidates to be further developed for implementation as screening instruments for clinical trials and in clinical practice.
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