Hippocampal atrophy over two years in relation to tau, amyloid-β and memory in older adults
In this longitudinal brain imaging study, we aimed to characterize hippocampal tau accumulation and subfield atrophy relative to cortical amyloid-β and memory performance. We measured tau-PET in regions associated with Braak stages I to VI, global amyloid-PET burden, hippocampal subfield volumes and memory assessments from 173 participants aged 55-85. Eighty-six of these participants were tested again two years later. Tau-PET change in the Braak II region, corresponding to the hippocampus and the entorhinal cortex, was significantly associated with the cornu ammonis 1 (CA1) atrophy and memory score. This CA1 atrophy did not significantly mediate the association between tau and memory, nor did global amyloid-PET burden correlate with tau-PET changes in the Braak II region. Longitudinal hippocampal tau accumulation is amyloid-β-independent and co-localized with subfield atrophy. As tau-associated memory decline seems to be independent from hippocampal atrophy, other mechanisms could contribute to the deficit.
Authors
- Joseph Therriault (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7826-4781)
- M. Mallar Chakravarty (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0759-5508)
- Jaime Fernández Arias (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6810-5920)
- Aurélie Bussy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6695-9941)
- Nesrine Rahmouni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3081-8468)
- Arthur C. Macedo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3957-0284)
- Brandon J. Hall (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4578-2033)
- Stijn Servaes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3565-1930)
- Cécile Tissot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2711-3833)
- Étienne Aumont (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8997-7090)
- Marc‐André Bédard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7807-8532)
- Pedro Rosa‐Neto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9116-1376)
- Paolo Vitali (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9204-2678)
- Serge Gauthier
- Jenna Stevenson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2848-1451)
- Nina Margherita Poltronetti
- Olga Fliaguine
- Lydia Trudel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-5593-7717)
Institutions
- Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital (CA)
- Université du Québec à Montréal (CA)
- Douglas Mental Health University Institute (CA)
- McGill University Health Centre (CA)
- McGill University (CA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Neurobiology of Aging
- Published
- 2024-11-23
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2024.11.007
- Citations
- 6
- Primary Topic
- Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.31