Ultra-high field imaging, plasma markers and autopsy data uncover a specific rostral locus coeruleus vulnerability to hyperphosphorylated tau.

ABSTRACT: Autopsy data indicate that the locus coeruleus (LC) is one of the first sites in the brain to accumulate hyperphosphorylated tau pathology, with the rostral part possibly being more vulnerable in the earlier stages of the disease. Taking advantage of recent developments in ultra-high field (7 T) imaging, we investigated whether imaging measures of the LC also reveal a specific anatomic correlation with tau using novel plasma biomarkers of different species of hyperphosphorylated tau, how early in adulthood these associations can be detected and if are associated with worse cognitive performance. To validate the anatomic correlations, we tested if a rostro-caudal gradient in tau pathology is also detected at autopsy in data from the Rush Memory and Aging Project (MAP). We found that higher

SUBMITTER: Van Egroo M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10073793 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature