Back

Rare genetic coding variants associated with age-related episodic memory decline implicate distinct memory pathologies in the hippocampus

Ali, A.; Milman, S.; Weiss, E. F.; Gao, T.; Napolioni, V.; Barzilai, N.; Zhang, Z. D.; Lin, J.-R.

2024-05-21 psychiatry and clinical psychology
10.1101/2024.05.21.24307692 medRxiv
Show abstract

BackgroundApproximately 40% of people aged 65 or older experience memory loss, particularly in episodic memory. Identifying the genetic basis of episodic memory decline is crucial for uncovering its underlying causes. MethodsWe investigated common and rare genetic variants associated with episodic memory decline in 742 (632 for rare variants) Ashkenazi Jewish individuals (mean age 75) from the LonGenity study. All-atom MD simulations were performed to uncover mechanistic insights underlying rare variants associated with episodic memory decline. ResultsIn addition to the common polygenic risk of Alzheimers Disease (AD), we identified and replicated rare variant association in ITSN1 and CRHR2. Structural analyses revealed distinct memory pathologies mediated by interfacial rare coding variants such as impaired receptor activation of corticotropin releasing hormone and dysregulated L-serine synthesis. DiscussionOur study uncovers novel risk loci for episodic memory decline. The identified underlying mechanisms point toward heterogeneous memory pathologies mediated by rare coding variants.

Matching journals

The top 4 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.

50% of probability mass above

"Similar papers" are the closest papers from that journal in the model's embedding space. They show what the match is built on, but the ranking comes mostly from a classifier over the whole training set, not from these examples alone.