Hallucinations and delusions are associated with elevated tau PET signal independent of age, clinical severity, and amyloid burden.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

Psychosis in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with worse outcomes, yet no established biomarkers exist for early diagnosis and intervention. We compared tau positron emission tomography (PET) burden across older individuals with and without psychotic symptoms.

Methods

[18F]AV1451 tau PET binding was compared between 32 Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) subjects with psychotic symptoms (delusions and/or hallucinations) and 32 ADNI subjects without psychotic symptoms, matched for age, sex, race/ethnicity, and clinical severity. Tau was assessed in a priori regions of interest (ROIs) and in voxelwise analyses, both corrected for amyloid PET burden.

Results

Tau was greater in individuals with psychotic symptoms in the amygdala, hippocam

SUBMITTER: Johnson AS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12904290 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Jan-Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature