Literature Review: Wild Card

Gerstenecker et al tried to correlate genes (microtubule-associated protein tau, myelin-associated oligodendrocyte basic protein, eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2-alpha kinase 2, syntaxin 6, and apolipoprotein E) previously identified as risk alleles in progressive supranuclear palsy and cognitive dysfunction in progressive supranuclear palsy. They studied 305 participants who underwent a neuropsycological evaluation as well as genetic analysis. They found that: 'cognition varied significantly at the subhaplotype level, with carriers of the microtubule-associated protein tau rs242557/A allele, which marks the H1c subhaplotype, performing better than noncarriers on measures of general cognitive function, executive function, and attention.' Larger studies would be required to determine if this relationship, better cognition in PSP patients with this haplotype, is accurate.