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Amyloid imaging in aging and dementia: testing the amyloid hypothesis in vivo
Rabinovici GD, Jagust WJ.. Behavioural neurology, 2009-01-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Amyloid imaging represents a major advance in neuroscience, enabling the detection and quantification of pathologic protein aggregations in the brain. In this review we survey current amyloid imaging techniques, focusing on positron emission tomography (PET) with (11)carbon-labelled Pittsburgh Compound-B ((11)C-PIB), the most extensively studied and best validated tracer. PIB binds specifically to fibrillar beta-amyloid (Abeta) deposits, and is a sensitive marker for Abeta pathology in cognitively normal older individuals and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). PIB-PET provides us with a powerful tool to examine in vivo the relationship between amyloid deposition, clinical symptoms, and structural and functional brain changes in the continuum between normal aging and AD. Amyloid imaging studies support a model in which amyloid deposition is an early event on the path to dementia, beginning insidiously in cognitively normal individuals, and accompanied by subtle cognitive decline and functional and structural brain changes suggestive of incipient AD. As patients progress to dementia, clinical decline and neurodegeneration accelerate and proceed independently of amyloid accumulation. In the future, amyloid imaging is likely to supplement clinical evaluation in selecting patients for anti-amyloid therapies, while MRI and FDG-PET may be more appropriate markers of clinical progression.
Key findings
- PIB binds specifically to fibrillar beta-amyloid (Abeta) deposits, and is a sensitive marker for Abeta pathology in cognitively normal older individuals and patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD).
- PIB-PET provides us with a powerful tool to examine in vivo the relationship between amyloid deposition, clinical symptoms, and structural and functional brain changes in the continuum between normal aging and AD.
- Amyloid imaging studies support a model in which amyloid deposition is an early event on the path to dementia, beginning insidiously in cognitively normal individuals, and accompanied by subtle cognitive decline and functional and structural brain changes suggestive of incipient AD.
- As patients progress to dementia, clinical decline and neurodegeneration accelerate and proceed independently of amyloid accumulation.
- In the future, amyloid imaging is likely to supplement clinical evaluation in selecting patients for anti-amyloid therapies, while MRI and FDG-PET may be more appropriate markers of clinical progression.
Why it matters
Amyloid imaging with PET can detect beta-amyloid deposits in cognitively normal older individuals and in those with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease. The review suggests amyloid imaging may help select patients for anti-amyloid therapies in the future, but it does not report on any treatment's effectiveness.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 46/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, so that was left out: it earned 44 of the 96 points we could judge it on, which is 46 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Behavioural neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2009 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 192 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 10.1 citations a year over 19 year(s) since 2009 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 12.8× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 3 / 6 | Cited by 10 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 0 / 4 | Cited 2 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 4 / 4 | Last-listed author William J. Jagust: h-index 152 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | University of California, San Francisco: institution h-index 1,915 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 19847050) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Points | 44 / 96 | Scored on 19 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 44 of the 96 points we could judge it on is 46 out of 100. |
| Total | 46 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.3233/ben-2009-0232
- PubMed: 19847050
- Original source →
- Free full text: eScholarship (California Digital Library) →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Rabinovici, G. D., & Jagust, W. J. (2009). Amyloid imaging in aging and dementia: testing the amyloid hypothesis in vivo. Behavioural neurology. https://doi.org/10.3233/ben-2009-0232
Vancouver
Rabinovici GD, Jagust WJ. Amyloid imaging in aging and dementia: testing the amyloid hypothesis in vivo. Behavioural neurology. 2009. doi:10.3233/ben-2009-0232. PMID: 19847050.
BibTeX
@article{rabinovici2009-19847050,
author = {Rabinovici, G. D. and Jagust, W. J.},
title = {{Amyloid imaging in aging and dementia: testing the amyloid hypothesis in vivo}},
journal = {Behavioural neurology},
year = {2009},
doi = {10.3233/ben-2009-0232},
pmid = {19847050},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3233/ben-2009-0232}
}
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