We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Network Diffusion Modeling Explains Longitudinal Tau PET Data.
- Authors
Schäfer, Amelie; Mormino, Elizabeth C.; Kuhl, Ellen
- Abstract
Alzheimer's disease is associated with the cerebral accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles of hyperphosphorylated tau protein. The progressive occurrence of tau aggregates in different brain regions is closely related to neurodegeneration and cognitive impairment. However, our current understanding of tau propagation relies almost exclusively on postmortem histopathology, and the precise propagation dynamics of misfolded tau in the living brain remain poorly understood. Here we combine longitudinal positron emission tomography and dynamic network modeling to test the hypothesis that misfolded tau propagates preferably along neuronal connections. We follow 46 subjects for three or four annual positron emission tomography scans and compare their pathological tau profiles against brain network models of intracellular and extracellular spreading. For each subject, we identify a personalized set of model parameters that characterizes the individual progression of pathological tau. Across all subjects, the mean protein production rate was 0.21 ± 0.15 and the intracellular diffusion coefficient was 0.34 ± 0.43. Our network diffusion model can serve as a tool to detect non-clinical symptoms at an earlier stage and make informed predictions about the timeline of neurodegeneration on an individual personalized basis.
- Subjects
POSITRON emission tomography; DIFFUSION; TAU proteins; ALZHEIMER'S disease; NEUROFIBRILLARY tangles
- Publication
Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2020, Vol 11, pN.PAG
- ISSN
1662-4548
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3389/fnins.2020.566876