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SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE · MED

Effects of α-synuclein pathology on synaptic dysfunction and clinical outcomes in normal aging.

Alzheimers Dement · 2026-05-01

DOI: 10.1002/alz.71455PMID: 42071168

Open accessresearch-article; Journal ArticleOriginal source ↗

Research overview

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Introductionα-Synuclein is the hallmark pathology of Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies, described together as Lewy body disease (LBD). We investigated effects of α-syn biomarker positivity in clinically unimpaired (CU) individuals.MethodsWe assessed α-syn status (α-syn ±) in 269 CU individuals using a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) seed amplification assay (SAA). Fifty-six participants with AD and 85 LBD spectrum participants were included for comparison. We compared α-syn SAA results with demographics, fluid biomarkers, cognitive performance, and clinical measures.Resultsα -Syn positivity was detected in 9% of CU individuals, a lower rate than in clinically impaired participants with AD (16%) and LBD diagnoses (81%). Compared to α-syn-, α-syn+ CU individuals were older, showed lower synaptic integrity, performed worse on tests of executive function and working memory, and reported more LBD-related non-motor symptoms.DiscussionFurther work is needed to understand the timeline of neural and clinical changes in α-syn+ CU individuals and heterogeneity in disease progression.

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