A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine reports that an Alzheimer’s gene may impair middle-aged memory.  According to the study, people with a variant of the APOE gene, which increases the risk of Alzheimer’s in old age, may also show memory impairment earlier than researchers once thought.  Researchers followed 815 people ages 21-97 with normal mental function.  On the Auditory-Verbal learning test, a test of a person’s ability to learn and remember, carriers of the APOE gene showed declines beginning in their 50’s.  Non-carriers of the gene did not show declines in memory until their 70’s.  The results of this study emphasize just how important preemptive estate planning is.