However, the strong effect of APOE was lost entirely when the analysis was adjusted for Aβ status, indicating that the cognitive decline was associated more closely via Aβ pathology rather than APOE. The significant interaction effect between APOE and Aβ with the intercept of MMSE suggested that the Aβ positive individuals with APOE had the most marked cognitive loss at the start of the study, although the non-significant interaction for the slope of MMSE indicated that APOE did not affect rate of progression once accounting for Aβ status. The gene discussed is APOE; the disease is Mental deterioration.