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Predicting Symptom Onset in Sporadic Alzheimer Disease With Amyloid PET
Schindler SE, Li Y, Buckles VD, Gordon BA, Benzinger TLS, Wang G, Coble D, Klunk WE et al.. Neurology, 2021-09-09
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Background and objectives To predict when cognitively normal individuals with brain amyloidosis will develop symptoms of Alzheimer disease (AD). Methods Brain amyloid burden was measured by amyloid PET with Pittsburgh compound B. The mean cortical standardized uptake value ratio (SUVR) was transformed into a timescale with the use of longitudinal data. Results Amyloid accumulation was evaluated in 236 individuals who underwent >1 amyloid PET scan. The average age was 66.5 ± 9.2 years, and 12 individuals (5%) had cognitive impairment at their baseline amyloid PET scan. A tipping point in amyloid accumulation was identified at a low level of amyloid burden (SUVR 1.2), after which nearly all individuals accumulated amyloid at a relatively consistent rate until reaching a high level of amyloid burden (SUVR 3.0). The average time between levels of amyloid burden was used to estimate the age at which an individual reached SUVR 1.2. Longitudinal clinical diagnoses for 180 individuals were aligned by the estimated age at SUVR 1.2. In the 22 individuals who progressed from cognitively normal to a typical AD dementia syndrome, the estimated age at which an individual reached SUVR 1.2 predicted the age at symptom onset ( R 2 = 0.54, p R 2 = 0.84, p Conclusion The age at symptom onset in sporadic AD is strongly correlated with the age at which an individual reaches a tipping point in amyloid accumulation.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Schindler, S. E., Li, Y., Buckles, V. D., Gordon, B. A., Benzinger, T. L. S., Wang, G., et al. (2021). Predicting Symptom Onset in Sporadic Alzheimer Disease With Amyloid PET. Neurology. https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000012775
Vancouver
Schindler SE, Li Y, Buckles VD, Gordon BA, Benzinger TLS, Wang G, et al. Predicting Symptom Onset in Sporadic Alzheimer Disease With Amyloid PET. Neurology. 2021. doi:10.1212/wnl.0000000000012775. PMID: 34504028.
BibTeX
@article{schindler2021-34504028,
author = {Schindler, S. E. and Li, Y. and Buckles, V. D. and Gordon, B. A. and Benzinger, T. L. S. and Wang, G. and Coble, D. and Klunk, W. E. and others},
title = {{Predicting Symptom Onset in Sporadic Alzheimer Disease With Amyloid PET}},
journal = {Neurology},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1212/wnl.0000000000012775},
pmid = {34504028},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000012775}
}
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
Key findings
- Results Amyloid accumulation was evaluated in 236 individuals who underwent >1 amyloid PET scan.
Why it matters
In cognitively normal people with brain amyloidosis, the estimated age at which amyloid reached a low tipping point predicted the age at symptom onset of Alzheimer dementia. This is a prediction model and does not show that any treatment, cure, or prevention works.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Participants236
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 63/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over time. Scored zero for effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on senior author's track record and institution's track record, so those were left out: it earned 59 of the 93 points we could judge it on, which is 63 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 4 / 4 | Neurology: journal h-index 525 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 7 / 12 | A longitudinal study following the same people over time |
| Strength of evidence | 3 / 5 | Rated “moderate” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2021 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 2 / 4 | 236 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 91 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 3 / 5 | 13.0 citations a year over 7 year(s) since 2021 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 8.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 8 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 62 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multicenter collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 0 institution(s) in 0 countries — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 34504028) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 59 / 93 | Scored on 18 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 59 of the 93 points we could judge it on is 63 out of 100. |
| Total | 63 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1212/wnl.0000000000012775
- PubMed: 34504028
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — PubMed Central lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 10 Oct 2026).
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