COGNITIVE CHANGES IN YOUNG-OLD ADULTS - EFFECT OF FAMILY HISTORY OF DEMENTIA

Cognitive performance of 40 first-degree relatives of patients with pr obable Alzheimer disease was compared to that of 24 matched controls w ithout a family history of dementia. Across a test-retest interval ran ging from 1 to 6 years, relatives more often showed evidence of cognit ive decline, and in multivariate analyses of memory and intelligence m easures, relatives of patients with early-onset dementia (< 67 years) showed greater decline than controls or relatives of patients with lat e-onset dementia. All changes observed to date are in the subclinical range, and further follow-up will be needed to determine the reliabili ty of change trajectories. However, the findings suggest that family h istory of dementia may be worthy of monitoring in research on normal c ognitive aging.