EARLY EFFECT OF APOE-EPSILON-4 ALLELE ON COGNITIVE RESULTS IN A GROUPOF HIGHLY PERFORMING SUBJECTS - THE EVA STUDY

We examined the association between apolipoprotein E (ApoE) epsilon 4 allele and cognitive performances in a population sample of 1174 high functioning volunteers aged 59-71 years. The neuropsychological batter y included the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and nine tests ass essing visual attention, verbal memory, visual processing, logical rea soning, psychomotor rapidity, visual memory, auditory attention and ve rbal fluency. The ratio of genotypes with zero, one or two epsilon 4 a lleles was 70.6%, 21.4% and 1.9%, respectively. The epsilon 4 allele w as significantly associated with lower scores for visual attention, ps ychomotor rapidity and MMSE. In the best performer subgroup (MMSE scor e above 25, n = 1028), all relationships persisted. Our findings demon strate that the ApoE-epsilon 4 allele is early associated with low nor mal cognitive performances in areas which are not specifically affecte d at the subclinical onset of dementia.