Amygdala Novelty Responses, Depressive Symptoms, and Tau Pathology in Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease: An fMRI Investigation

Although prior studies have indicated that late-life depression and tau pathology are associated with the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD), our findings suggest that subclinical depressive symptoms do not significantly impact amygdala novelty responses in preclinical AD. The observed increase in depressive symptoms in SCD and MCI groups suggests that affective changes may still be an important factor in disease progression, but their relationship with amygdala function remains unclear. Future research should explore clinically significant depression, longitudinal changes in affective symptoms, and other neurobiological mechanisms, such as amyloid burden and neuroinflammation, to better understand the early neural changes associated with AD.