Memory concerns in the early Alzheimer’s disease prodrome: Regional association with tau deposition

Abstract

Introduction: Relationship between self- and informant memory concerns and tau aggregation was assessed in adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Methods: Regional mean standardized uptake value ratios were extracted from [18F]flortaucipir positron emission tomography (PET) scans of 82 at-risk adults in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) cohort. Associations between self- and informant ECog memory scores and tau aggregation were analyzed on both regional and voxelwise bases. Analyses were completed both on the whole sample and restricted to amyloid-positive individuals only. Results: Memory concerns were associated with tau aggregation. Self-perception was more associated with frontal tau. In contrast, informant scores were more associated with parietal tau. This source-by-region interaction was more prominent in amyloid-positive participants and observed in both regional and voxelwise analyses. Discussion: Quantitative assessment of perceived memory functioning may be useful for screening older adults at risk for Alzheimer's disease. Individuals and their informants may provide complementary information relating to the anatomical distribution of tau.