LASSI-L detects midlife cognitive risk in women with the FMR1 premutation

This study examined episodic memory in 88 women with the FMR1 premutation and 84 matched controls, all between 30 and 55 years of age. Participants completed the LASSI-L, allowing the researchers to evaluate proactive semantic interference, recovery from interference, and intrusion errors. The analysis also tested whether CGG repeat length and college education modified performance, with particular attention to the midlife period before the usual onset of fragile X–associated tremor/ataxia syndrome.

Women with the premutation showed poorer LASSI-L performance across several sensitive memory processes, while college education buffered these differences. The strongest education-related effects appeared among women with mid-range CGG expansions of approximately 80–100 repeats. These results position the LASSI-L as a useful tool for detecting subtle midlife vulnerability outside the traditional Alzheimer’s disease setting. Its process-level measures may support earlier cognitive monitoring and more personalized risk assessment in women whose conventional testing could otherwise appear relatively intact.