APOE‐e4 Status Moderates Associations between Executive Function and Air Pollution Exposure in Older Men

Air pollution, which includes exposure to tiny particulate matter (PM2.5) and Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) is a notable public health hazard. Exposure has adverse effects on multiple health outcomes as well as with increased risk of developing cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Although the primary cognitive focus in Alzheimer’s disease is memory, there is growing recognition of the importance of early executive function (EF) deficits as a risk indicator. In addition, there is some evidence of genetic susceptibility to pollution‐related cognitive decline. Few studies have strong measures of air pollution, EF, as well as APOE genotyping. We recently showed that APOE genotype was associated with significant decline in EF from middle to early old age among individuals who were cognitively unimpaired at baseline (Gustavson et al, 2022). Here we tested the hypothesis that the impact of air pollution on executive functions would be greater in APOE‐ε4+ carriers compared with APOE‐ε4‐ individuals.