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56/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 56 out of 100. Brain scans and imaging

Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis

Plain-language summary

Importance Multiple disease processes are associated with cognitive impairment in Parkinson disease (PD), including Lewy bodies, cerebrovascular disease, and Alzheimer disease. Imaging measures were compared with 49 healthy control participants. Results Of the 78 participants, 47 (60%) were female, and the mean (SD) age was 71.1 (6.6) years. (Of the 49 healthy controls, 25 were Aβ-negative and 24 Aβ-positive.) Voxelwise contrasts of whole-brain tau PET uptake between patients with PD-CN and patients with PD-MCI, and additionally between all patients with PD and Aβ-negative controls, did not reveal significant differences. Mean (SD) tau PET binding was significantly elevated in Aβ-positive patients with PD relative to Aβ-negative patients with PD within brain regions reflecting Alzheimer disease Braak stage 3/4 (1.22 [0.07] vs 1.14 [0.07]; P = .03) and Braak stage 5/6 (1.20 [0.07] vs 1.11 [0.08]; P = .02). Conclusions and relevance These findings suggest that patterns of cortical Aβ and tau do not differ in people with PD-CN, people with PD-MCI, and healthy older adults.

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

APA 7th

Winer, JR., Maass, A., Pressman, P., Stiver, J., Schonhaut, D. R., Baker, S. L., et al. (2018). Associations Between Tau, β-Amyloid, and Cognition in Parkinson Disease. JAMA neurology. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2017.3713

Vancouver

Winer JR, Maass A, Pressman P, Stiver J, Schonhaut DR, Baker SL, et al. Associations Between Tau, β-Amyloid, and Cognition in Parkinson Disease. JAMA neurology. 2018. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2017.3713. PMID: 29228071.

BibTeX

@article{winer2018-29228071,
  author  = {Winer, JR. and Maass, A. and Pressman, P. and Stiver, J. and Schonhaut, D. R. and Baker, S. L. and Kramer, J. and Rabinovici, G. D. and others},
  title   = {{Associations Between Tau, β-Amyloid, and Cognition in Parkinson Disease}},
  journal = {JAMA neurology},
  year    = {2018},
  doi     = {10.1001/jamaneurol.2017.3713},
  pmid    = {29228071},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaneurol.2017.3713}
}

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How to read this study

Design: this is a cross-sectional study. Everyone is measured once, so it cannot show which came first. Read it as a snapshot of how two things go together at one moment.
Size: the record lists 30 participants. Ask whether that is enough for the question, and who they were.
Effect: the record gives no effect size, so the summary above cannot say how large any difference was.

What the evidence grade means here

This page is graded low. alzhub.org assigns the grade automatically from keywords in the abstract, not from reading the paper. Low means the abstract matched neither pattern. It is the default label, and it does not mean the work is poor; many sound lab and imaging papers land here. It can add at most 5 of the 100 points in the study score, and it is a label about design, not a verdict on whether the findings are true.

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Key findings

Importance Multiple disease processes are associated with cognitive impairment in Parkinson disease (PD), including Lewy bodies, cerebrovascular disease, and Alzheimer disease.
Imaging measures were compared with 49 healthy control participants.
Results Of the 78 participants, 47 (60%) were female, and the mean (SD) age was 71.1 (6.6) years.
(Of the 49 healthy controls, 25 were Aβ-negative and 24 Aβ-positive.) Voxelwise contrasts of whole-brain tau PET uptake between patients with PD-CN and patients with PD-MCI, and additionally between all patients with PD and Aβ-negative controls, did not reveal significant differences.
Mean (SD) tau PET binding was significantly elevated in Aβ-positive patients with PD relative to Aβ-negative patients with PD within brain regions reflecting Alzheimer disease Braak stage 3/4 (1.22 [0.07] vs 1.14 [0.07]; P = .03) and Braak stage 5/6 (1.20 [0.07] vs 1.11 [0.08]; P = .02).

Why it matters

This cross-sectional study found that patterns of cortical amyloid and tau did not differ between people with Parkinson disease with normal cognition, people with Parkinson disease with mild cognitive impairment, and healthy older adults. It suggests that Alzheimer's-type amyloid and tau patterns are not the main driver of cognitive differences in Parkinson disease, and it does not test a treatment, cure, or prevention.

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Study details

Study designcross-sectional
Participants30
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 56/100

Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (JAMA neurology)
Journal's citation record	2 / 4	JAMA Neurology: journal h-index 235 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	4 / 12	A snapshot of people at one point in time
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	2 / 5	2018 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	1 / 4	30 participants
Effect reported	0 / 3	No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomized / blinded	0 / 2	No randomization or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	4 / 7	Cited 85 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	8.5 citations a year over 10 year(s) since 2018
Impact for its field and year	3 / 6	Cited 4.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	2 / 6	Cited by 3 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 30 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, Berkeley: institution h-index 2,012 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	2 / 3	OpenAlex lists 5 institution(s) in 2 countries
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 29228071)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	56 / 100	—

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