Reference Data of the Spanish Memory Binding Test in a Midlife Population from the ALFA STUDY (Alzheimer's and Family)

Nina Gramunt, Herman Buschke, Gonzalo Sánchez-Benavides, Richard B. Lipton, Jordi Peña-Casanova, Faustino Diéguez-Vide, Xavier Masramon, Juan D. Gispert, Karine Fauria, Jordi Camí, José L. Molinuevo, Josep Garre-Olmo

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Scopus citations

Abstract

Background: The Memory Binding Test (MBT) is a novel test based on the learning of two lists of words, developed to detect early memory impairment suggestive of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Objective: To present and provide reference data of the Spanish MBT in a midlife population of mainly first-degree descendants of AD patients. Methods: 472 cognitively unimpaired subjects, aged 45 to 65 and participants of the ALFA STUDY, were included. Raw scores were transformed to scaled scores on which multivariate regression analysis was applied adjusting by age, gender, and education level. A standard linear regression was employed to derive the scaled score adjusted. Sociodemographic corrections were applied and an adjustment table was constructed. Results: Performance was heterogeneously influenced by sociodemographic factors. Age negatively influenced free recall. Education tends to have an influence in the results showing lower performance with lower education level. Women tend to outperform men in the learning of the first list and total recall. Only a few variables were unaffected by sociodemographic factors such as those related to semantic proactive interference (SPI) and to the retention of learned material. Our results point out that some vulnerability to SPI is expectable in cognitively healthy subjects. Close to 100 of the learned material was maintained across the delay interval. Conclusion: This study contributes with reference data for the MBT providing the necessary adjustments for sociodemographic characteristics. Our data may prove to be useful for detecting asymptomatic at-risk candidates for secondary prevention studies of AD.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)613-625
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Alzheimer's Disease
Volume48
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2015

Keywords

  • Aging
  • Alzheimer's disease
  • cognition
  • early diagnosis
  • episodic memory
  • neuropsychological assessment
  • preclinical
  • reference values

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Geriatrics and Gerontology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Reference Data of the Spanish Memory Binding Test in a Midlife Population from the ALFA STUDY (Alzheimer's and Family)'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this