Are premorbid personality traits linked to the risk of Alzheimer's disease? A case series of subjects with familial mutation

Background: The identification of the premorbid manifestation of Alzheimer' s disease (AD) usually is carried out retrospectively by eliciting informat ion from caregivers. However, the study of subjects with familial Alzheimer 's disease (FAD) not yet affected by AD allows the direct identification of premorbid characteristics of the disease. Methods: This is a psychometric assessment of 3 mutated and 5 control subjects, belonging to an Italian fam ily associated with a missense mutation linked to the presenilin 2 gene. Th e assessment included an evaluation of personality traits, cognitive and af fective condition, social disabilities, experiential and familial context. Results: According to the MMPI, the mutated subjects did not show consisten t personality traits. Also other questionnaires (HADS, WAIS, BDQ) were nega tive for definite cognitive or behavioural patterns. ApoE genotypes did not differentiate mutated from control subjects. Conclusions: Our results may be considered important for a better understanding of the pathogenesis of A D. The heuristic and practical importance of longitudinal prospective studi es is emphasised, Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.