On the other hand, researchers also found that, while people with mild cognitive impairment had more amyloid in their brains at the beginning of the study, they did not have faster accumulation of amyloid when compared to those with normal thinking and memory skills. However, they did have faster thinning of the entorhinal cortex as well as brain shrinkage of the hippocampus.
"From prior research, we know that another biomarker of Alzheimer's disease, a protein called tau, shows a consistent relationship with thinking and memory symptoms. Therefore, more research is needed to determine if tau is already present in the brain when subtle thinking and memory differences begin to appear," said Thomas.
"Finally, our study demonstrated a method to successfully detect subtle differences in thinking and memory either before or during the phase when amyloid is accumulating at a faster rate," Thomas said. "This could lead to non-invasive screenings that may be able to detect very early who is at risk of developing Alzheimer's disease."
A limitation of the study was that participants were mostly white and considered healthy, so the results may not be the same for other populations. It is also possible that the earliest stages of amyloid plaques forming in the brain are not detectable with brain scans.
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health, the Alzheimer's Association and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Clinical Sciences Research and Development Service.
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