A characterisation of amyloid status and cognition in late‐life depression

Background The link between late‐life depression and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has long been investigated, however it is still unclear whether depression acts as a risk factor, a prodromal feature or a comorbid condition in AD. Clarifying the nature of this link has important implications in the early intervention and diagnosis of AD. The relatively recent introduction of in‐vivo brain biomarkers for AD pathology offers the chance to explore the relationship between depression and pathologically‐confirmed neurodegeneration. Here, we examined the association among objective cognitive functioning, self‐reported cognitive failures and AD pathology in patients with late‐life depression. Method Sixty‐three older adults with no formal diagnosis of cognitive impairment underwent a comprehensive cognitive assessment and Amyloid‐PET Imaging at the Imperial Memory Unit. Participants were classified into two groups, according to the presence (n=33, mean age=71.82 ±4.98) or absence (n=30, mean age=71.30 ±5.80) of late‐life depression. Late‐life depression was confirmed through validated questionnaires (GDS ≥ 6 and/or HDRS ≥ 12) and medical history review. Amyloid‐PET images were qualitatively read as amyloid positive or amyloid negative by two experienced nuclear medicine radiologists (NMRs). Equivocal scans (6%) were read by a third independent NMR. Cognitive data in the two groups were compared using non‐parametric tests. Results Amyloid status did not differ significantly between the two groups (p=.367), with 3 (9%) depressed and 5 (17%) non‐depressed participants reported as amyloid‐positive. Despite higher levels of self‐reported cognitive failures (p