INS NYC 2024 Program

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 #88 Preliminary Evaluation of the Digital Maze Test in Relation to Neuropsychological Tests and AD Biomarkers Talia Robinson, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, United States Jessie Fu, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States Grace Montenegro, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States Hannah Klinger, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States Michael Properzi, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States Dana Penney, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Burlington, United States Randall Davis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States Reisa Sperling, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States Keith Johnson, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States Rebeccaa Amariglio, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States Dorene Rentz, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, United States Category: Dementia (Alzheimer's Disease) Keyword 1: aging disorders Keyword 2: cognitive functioning Keyword 3: technology Objective: Digital cognitive tools may provide unique opportunities to detect subtle cognitive changes in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here, performance on a maze test using a digital pen was evaluated in relation to AD pathology measured by amyloid-β and tau burden. Participants and Methods: 172 participants (cognitively normal (CN) =161, mild cognitive impairment (MCI)=6, dementia =5) completed the digital maze test, which included “no-choice” (NC; i.e., no decision points required to complete maze) followed by “choice” (CH) conditions (i.e., embedded decision points required to complete maze). Maze composite scores were calculated using features for the total time duration, total number of strokes, and total pen-off-page time for NC or CH mazes, creating a CH-composite and NC-composite for each participant. Global amyloid-β burden was quantified with [¹¹C]Pittsburgh-Compound-B (PiB) in available participants (n=171). Entorhinal cortex (EC) and inferior temporal (IT) tau burden were quantified with [¹⁸F]Flortaucipir (FTP) in available participants (n=135). Participants completed a battery of traditional neuropsychological tests, with domain factor scores calculated for Executive Functioning (EF), Processing Speed (PS), and Memory (Mem). The associations between maze composite scores, global amyloid-β, entorhinal tau, and inferior temporal tau were evaluated in separate linear regression models for both the total sample and CN only, correcting for age and education. Partial least squares (PLS) regression models were used to further explore which maze features are most associated with AD biomarkers. Results: In the total sample, CH- and NC-composites were moderately correlated with PS and EF domain scores (Pearson r =.41-.46) and less so with Mem domain scores (Pearson r=0.2-0.35). PiB uptake was not significantly correlated with EF domain scores in the total sample nor CN only. In the total sample, higher PiB uptake was more strongly associated with worse performance in NC-composite (β= 0.543, SE= 0.249, p <.05), than to CH-composite (β= 0.467, SE= 0.259, p = .07). Similar results were observed in the CN only sample (NC-composite: β = 0.468, SE= 0.237, p <.05; CH-composite: β = 0.469, SE= 0.278, p = .09). Entorhinal and inferior temporal tau were not significantly associated with any maze composites (p>.05). PLS regression revealed that higher PiB uptake was associated with longer ‘Pen-Off-Page’ time and higher number of strokes on the NC maze (β = 5.02, SE=2.14, p=0.02). Conclusions: In a largely cognitively normal sample, digital maze test performance was associated with traditional EF and PS measures but showed stronger correlation with global amyloid-β burden than these traditional measures, particularly in the no-choice condition. This may suggest subtle difficulty on the simpler digital task is more indicative of pathological change. Maze performance was not associated with EC or IT tau. Digitally captured, nuanced performance on the maze test may be related to early amyloid-β pathology, but less so to downstream effects of tau.

Poster

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 #88

Preliminary Evaluation of the Digital Maze Test in Relation to Neuropsychological Tests and AD Biomarkers

Talia Robinson, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, United States
Jessie Fu, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States
Grace Montenegro, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States
Hannah Klinger, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States
Michael Properzi, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States
Dana Penney, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Burlington, United States
Randall Davis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, United States
Reisa Sperling, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States
Keith Johnson, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States
Rebeccaa Amariglio, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, United States
Dorene Rentz, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, United States

Category: Dementia (Alzheimer's Disease)

Keyword 1: aging disorders
Keyword 2: cognitive functioning
Keyword 3: technology

Objective:

Digital cognitive tools may provide unique opportunities to detect subtle cognitive changes in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Here, performance on a maze test using a digital pen was evaluated in relation to AD pathology measured by amyloid-β and tau burden.

Participants and Methods:

172 participants (cognitively normal (CN) =161, mild cognitive impairment (MCI)=6, dementia =5) completed the digital maze test, which included “no-choice” (NC; i.e., no decision points required to complete maze) followed by “choice” (CH) conditions (i.e., embedded decision points required to complete maze). Maze composite scores were calculated using features for the total time duration, total number of strokes, and total pen-off-page time for NC or CH mazes, creating a CH-composite and NC-composite for each participant. Global amyloid-β burden was quantified with [¹¹C]Pittsburgh-Compound-B (PiB) in available participants (n=171). Entorhinal cortex (EC) and inferior temporal (IT) tau burden were quantified with [¹⁸F]Flortaucipir (FTP) in available participants (n=135). Participants completed a battery of traditional neuropsychological tests, with domain factor scores calculated for Executive Functioning (EF), Processing Speed (PS), and Memory (Mem). The associations between maze composite scores, global amyloid-β, entorhinal tau, and inferior temporal tau were evaluated in separate linear regression models for both the total sample and CN only, correcting for age and education. Partial least squares (PLS) regression models were used to further explore which maze features are most associated with AD biomarkers.

Results:

In the total sample, CH- and NC-composites were moderately correlated with PS and EF domain scores (Pearson r =.41-.46) and less so with Mem domain scores (Pearson r=0.2-0.35). PiB uptake was not significantly correlated with EF domain scores in the total sample nor CN only. In the total sample, higher PiB uptake was more strongly associated with worse performance in NC-composite (β= 0.543, SE= 0.249, p <.05), than to CH-composite (β= 0.467, SE= 0.259, p = .07). Similar results were observed in the CN only sample (NC-composite: β = 0.468, SE= 0.237, p <.05; CH-composite: β = 0.469, SE= 0.278, p = .09). Entorhinal and inferior temporal tau were not significantly associated with any maze composites (p>.05). PLS regression revealed that higher PiB uptake was associated with longer ‘Pen-Off-Page’ time and higher number of strokes on the NC maze (β = 5.02, SE=2.14, p=0.02).

Conclusions:

In a largely cognitively normal sample, digital maze test performance was associated with traditional EF and PS measures but showed stronger correlation with global amyloid-β burden than these traditional measures, particularly in the no-choice condition. This may suggest subtle difficulty on the simpler digital task is more indicative of pathological change. Maze performance was not associated with EC or IT tau. Digitally captured, nuanced performance on the maze test may be related to early amyloid-β pathology, but less so to downstream effects of tau.