Alzheimer’s & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring (Jan 2018)

CSF total tau levels are associated with hippocampal novelty irrespective of hippocampal volume

  • Emrah Düzel,
  • David Berron,
  • Hartmut Schütze,
  • Arturo Cardenas‐Blanco,
  • Coraline Metzger,
  • Matthew Betts,
  • Gabriel Ziegler,
  • Yi Chen,
  • Laura Dobisch,
  • Daniel Bittner,
  • Wenzel Glanz,
  • Martin Reuter,
  • Annika Spottke,
  • Janna Rudolph,
  • Frederic Brosseron,
  • Katharina Buerger,
  • Daniel Janowitz,
  • Klaus Fliessbach,
  • Michael Heneka,
  • Christoph Laske,
  • Martina Buchmann,
  • Peter Nestor,
  • Oliver Peters,
  • Dominik Diesing,
  • Siyao Li,
  • Josef Priller,
  • Eike Jakob Spruth,
  • Slawek Altenstein,
  • Alfredo Ramirez,
  • Anja Schneider,
  • Barbara Kofler,
  • Oliver Speck,
  • Stefan Teipel,
  • Ingo Kilimann,
  • Martin Dyrba,
  • Jens Wiltfang,
  • Claudia Bartels,
  • Steffen Wolfsgruber,
  • Michael Wagner,
  • Frank Jessen

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dadm.2018.10.003
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 10, no. 1
pp. 782 – 790

Abstract

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Abstract Introduction We examined the association between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease, neural novelty responses, and brain volume in predementia old age. Methods We conducted a cross‐sectional analysis of the observational, multicentric DZNE‐Longitudinal Cognitive Impairment and Dementia Study (DELCODE) study. Seventy‐six participants completed task functional magnetic resonance imaging and provided CSF (40 cognitively unimpaired, 21 experiencing subjective cognitive decline, and 15 with mild cognitive impairment). We assessed the correlation between CSF biomarkers and whole‐brain functional magnetic resonance imaging novelty responses to scene images. Results Total tau levels were specifically and negatively associated with novelty responses in the right amygdala and right hippocampus. Mediation analyses showed no evidence that these associations were dependent on the volume of hippocampus/amygdala. No relationship was found between phosphorylated‐tau or Aβ42 levels and novelty responses. Discussion Our data show that CSF levels of total tau are associated with anatomically specific reductions in novelty processing, which cannot be fully explained by atrophy.

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