Is tau in the absence of amyloid on the Alzheimer's continuum?: A study of discordant PET positivity.

ABSTRACT: The amyloid cascade model of Alzheimer's disease posits the primacy of amyloid beta deposition preceding tau-mediated neurofibrillary tangle formation. The amyloid-tau-neurodegeneration biomarker-only diagnostic framework similarly requires the presence of amyloid beta for a diagnosis on the Alzheimer's continuum. However, medial temporal lobe tau pathology in the absence of amyloid beta is frequently observed at autopsy in cognitively normal individuals, a phenomenon that may reflect a consequence of aging and has been labelled 'primary age-related tauopathy'. Alternatively, others argue that this tauopathy reflects an early stage of the developmental continuum leading to Alzheimer's disease. We used positron emission tomography imaging to investigate amyloid beta and tau positivity and a

SUBMITTER: Weigand AJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7001143 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature