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Regional tau PET patterns predict prospective domain-specific cognitive decline in early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease
Maura Malpetti, Saima Rathore, Leonardo Iaccarino, Renaud La Joie, Giulia Tronchin, Alette M Wessels, John R Sims, Michael J Pontecorvo et al.. Alzheimer's research & therapy, 2025-10-06
Topic: Plasma and spinal-fluid biomarkers
Differential FTP-PET signal patterns showed significant negative associations with domain-specific annual rates of decline. Higher temporo-parietal FTP-PET SUVR was associated with faster decline in episodic memory, while higher left anterior temporal SUVR was associated with faster decline in semantic memory. FTP-PET signal in a left-dominant fronto-temporal pattern was associated with faster decline in language, while FTP-PET signal in a right-dominant fronto-parietal pattern was associated with faster decline in praxis. Executive decline showed limited spatial associations with FTP-PET. Overall, regional and voxel-wise analyses identified similar pairwise associations between FTP-PET signal and domain-specific longitudinal decline. Baseline MRI showed weaker associations with domain-specific cognitive decline than FTP-PET, and did not mediate the predictive effect of the latter. Differential regional tau-PET signal patterns were associated with domain-specific cognitive decline in MCI and early AD dementia. Tau-PET may be a useful precision medicine tool to support individualized predictions of cognitive decline trajectories in early symptomatic AD.
Key findings
- Differential FTP-PET signal patterns showed significant negative associations with domain-specific annual rates of decline.
- Higher temporo-parietal FTP-PET SUVR was associated with faster decline in episodic memory, while higher left anterior temporal SUVR was associated with faster decline in semantic memory.
- FTP-PET signal in a left-dominant fronto-temporal pattern was associated with faster decline in language, while FTP-PET signal in a right-dominant fronto-parietal pattern was associated with faster decline in praxis.
- Executive decline showed limited spatial associations with FTP-PET.
- Overall, regional and voxel-wise analyses identified similar pairwise associations between FTP-PET signal and domain-specific longitudinal decline.
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Study details
- Study designcross-sectional
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 54/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for 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, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record, multi-centre collaboration and free to read, so those were left out: it earned 30 of the 56 points we could judge it on, which is 54 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Alzheimer's research & therapy) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 4 / 12 | A snapshot of people at one point in 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 | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 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 | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| 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 |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41053874) |
| Free to read | — / 2 | Access not recorded — left out of this score |
| Points | 30 / 56 | Scored on 10 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 30 of the 56 points we could judge it on is 54 out of 100. |
| Total | 54 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
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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. 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.
APA 7th
Malpetti, M., Rathore, S., Iaccarino, L., La Joie, R., Tronchin, G., Wessels, A. M., et al. (2025). Regional tau PET patterns predict prospective domain-specific cognitive decline in early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's research & therapy. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-025-01868-7
Vancouver
Malpetti M, Rathore S, Iaccarino L, La Joie R, Tronchin G, Wessels AM, et al. Regional tau PET patterns predict prospective domain-specific cognitive decline in early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's research & therapy. 2025. doi:10.1186/s13195-025-01868-7. PMID: 41053874.
BibTeX
@article{malpetti2025-41053874,
author = {Malpetti, Maura and Rathore, Saima and Iaccarino, Leonardo and La Joie, Renaud and Tronchin, Giulia and Wessels, Alette M and Sims, John R and Pontecorvo, Michael J and others},
title = {{Regional tau PET patterns predict prospective domain-specific cognitive decline in early symptomatic Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Alzheimer's research \& therapy},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1186/s13195-025-01868-7},
pmid = {41053874},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-025-01868-7}
}
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