Associations of sensory and motor function with blood-based biomarkers of neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease in midlife.

PubMed ID: 36209638

Author(s): Paulsen AJ, Schubert CR, Pinto AA, Chappell RJ, Chen Y, Cruickshanks KJ, Engelman CD, Ferrucci L, Hancock LM, Johnson SC, Merten N. Associations of sensory and motor function with blood-based biomarkers of neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease in midlife. Neurobiol Aging. 2022 Dec;120:177-188. doi: 10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2022.08.008. Epub 2022 Aug 24. PMID 36209638

Journal: Neurobiology Of Aging, Volume 120, Dec 2022

Pathological biomarkers of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) change decades before clinical symptoms. Common sensory and motor changes in aging adults may be early markers of neurodegeneration. We investigated if midlife sensory and motor functions in Beaver Dam Offspring Study (BOSS) participants (N = 1529) were associated with longitudinal changes in blood-based biomarkers of neurodegeneration (neurofilament light chain (NfL); total tau (TTau)) and AD (amyloid beta (Aβ)). Mixed-effects models with baseline sensory and motor function as determinants and 10-year biomarker change as outcome were used. Participants with hearing impairment and worse motor function (among women) showed faster increases in NfL level over time (0.8% per year; 0.3% per year, respectively). There were no significant associations with TTau or Aβ. We found consistent relationships between worse baseline hearing and motor function with a faster increase in neurodegeneration, specifically serum NfL level. Future studies with longer follow-up should determine if sensory and motor changes are more reflective of general neurodegeneration than AD-specific pathology and whether sensory and motor tests may be useful screening tools for neurodegeneration risk.