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Introduction: Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) genotype and aerobic fitness are each associated with cognitive performance in older adults. However, their potentially interactive effects on cognitive performance have not been examined., Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether ApoE genotype and aerobic fitness interact to uniquely impact memory performance and executive functioning. A secondary purpose was to examine the interactive effects on other measures of cognition to provide a more comprehensive assessment of cognitive abilities across a broad range of functions., Methods: Community-dwelling, cognitively normal older women (N = 90) provided blood samples to allow for assessment of ApoE genotype, completed cognitive tests, and performed a maximal aerobic fitness test. Primary outcome variables were the auditory verbal learning test (AVLT), the complex figures test (CFT), and the Wisconsin card-sorting task (WCST). Secondary outcome variables were the block design test and the paced auditory serial addition task (PASAT)., Results: Regression analyses indicated that aerobic fitness was associated with significantly better performance on measures of the AVLT, the CFT, and the PASAT for the ApoE-epsilon4 homozygotes., Conclusion: The preliminary findings from this study support the possibility that aerobic fitness is positively associated with the memory performance of those individuals at most genetic risk for Alzheimer disease.

Objectives: To determine whether apolipoprotein E (apo E) genotype influences intellectual achievement in cognitively normal individuals., Design: Between 1994 and 1999 we performed apo E testing on 1,000 self-described cognitively normal residents of Maricopa County and detailed neuropsychological testing on a subset of 250., Setting: Tertiary care academic medical center., Participants: Cognitively normal adults genotyped for apo E., Measurements: Measures of intellectual background included years of education and a demographically based estimate of intellectual capacity (demographic intellectual quotient (DIQ)). Measures of intellectual achievement, which included Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale revised (WAIS-R), information (WAISI), and vocabulary (WAISV) scores, occupational intellectual requirements (OIR), and census-derived estimates of household income, were compared between apo E genetic subgroups while adjusting for intellectual background and demographic variables., Results: WAISI, WAISV, OIR, and income correlated with age, sex, education, and DIQ, but after controlling for these variables there were no clinically significant differences between apo E-e4 homozygotes and noncarriers on any measure., Conclusions: No clinically significant differences between genotypes were observed for the effects of education and DIQ on WAISI, WAISV, OIR, or income, although a larger sample size would be required to exclude smaller, clinically insignificant differences.