NYU Asst. Prof. Lisa Mosconi

If your mother suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, researches say a brain condition that contributed to it may predispose you as well.

In findings presented to the 2008 Alzheimer’s Association Disease Conference, New York University Research Assistant Professor Lisa Mosconi, said her team found a reduction in glucose brain metabolism in subjects of the study who had a maternal – but not a paternal – history of Alzheimer’s.

The results of the study also held true if the subject had no parental history with the disease.

“Our new study shows that subjects with a mother with Alzheimer’s show similarities with Alzheimer’s patients,” Mosconi said. “They have metabolic reductions in the brain regions . . . which worsen over time.”

Researchers tagged glucose in subjects of the study with a chemical that allowed them to trace it using a PET scan. There were 66 participants ranging in age from 52 to 58. Of the subjects, 20 had mothers with Alzheimer’s, 37 had no history and nine had paternal history.

The study followed an earlier, similar research project and adds two years of data. Mosconi said more research is needed.

The study’s primary contribution is that it sheds light on the role reduced brain metabolism might play in transmitting Alzheimer.

The study was conducted by New York University’s Langone Medical Center, Center for Brain Health.

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