Apolipoprotein E Gene Variability and Cognitive Functions at Age 79: A Follow-Up of the Scottish Mental Survey of 1932

Apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype is a possible influence on nonpathological cognitive aging. The authors studied 462 community-dwelling, 79-year-old people born in 1921, whose childhood IQ had been assessed in the Scottish Mental Survey of 1932 (Scottish Council for Research in Education, 1933). Adjusting for sex, childhood IQ, and self-reported illnesses, the authors found that those with an APOE 4 allele had significantly lower Wechsler Logical Memory (D. Wechsler, 1987) scores than those without an 4 allele. Those people with APOE 2/3 genotypes had significantly higher Wechsler Logical Memory scores than 3/3, who were significantly higher than 3/4. Neither nonverbal reasoning nor verbal fluency were affected. In this sample, APOE genotype contributed to verbal memory in old age. As humans grow older, mean scores on some cognitive function tests decline, even in the absence of dementia (Schaie, 1996; Wilson, Beckett, et al., 2002). This includes abilities such as memory, reasoning, processing speed, and spatial ability (Salt-house & Ferrer-Caja, 2003). There is an association between cognitive decline and loss of independence, and lower quality of life (National Research Council [NRC], 2000). Therefore, findin