"Changes can be detected and measured while older people are still healthy researchers say   En Espaol httpsconsumer.healthday.comespanolcognitivehealthinformationalzheimersnewsmedirlasplacasdelcerebropodriacuteaofrecerpistassobreelriesgodealzheimer.html MONDAY Oct.   HealthDay News  A large amount of beta amyloid or plaques in the brain may trigger more significant memory loss in healthy older people than the genetic risk factor associated with Alzheimers disease known as the APOE  allele according to new research from Australia. Our finding that brainplaquerelated memory decline can occur while people still have normal memory and thinking shows that these plaquerelated brain changes can be detected and measured while older people are still healthy said study author Yen Ying Lim of the University of Melbourne. This provides an enormous opportunity for understanding the development of early Alzheimers disease and even a sound basis for the assessment of plaquetargeting therapies. The researchers had nearly  older adults with no thinking or memory problems undergo a PET brain scan. The participants who were an average age of  also were tested for the APOE gene. The groups brain function was monitored for  months using computerbased tests card games and having the participants memorize word lists. The study results are published in the Oct.  issue of the journal Neurology. Over the course of the study the people who began with more brain plaques had up to  percent greater decline on the computerbased assessments of memory than the people who had fewer brain plaques.  The researchers also found the participants who carried the APOE gene had greater memory loss than those who did not have this genetic risk factor. They noted however that carrying the gene did not affect memory decline associated with the plaques. Our results show that plaques may be a more important factor in determining which people are at greater risk for cognitive impairment or other memory diseases such as Alzheimers disease Lim said in a journal news release. Unfortunately testing for the APOE genotype is easier and much less costly than conducting amyloid imaging. Although the researchers discovered an association between plaques and increased memory loss they did not prove a causeandeffect relationship. More information The U.S. National Institute on Aging provides more information on Alzheimers disease http SOURCE American Academy of Neurology news release Oct."