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Repetitive negative thinking is associated with amyloid accumulation over 3 years in cognitively healthy adults
Marchant NL, Mezenge F, Raghavan AV, Saul E, De La Sayette V, The IMAP Research Group, Chételat G.. medRxiv, 2026-10-31
Topic: Brain imaging, connectivity and assessment
RNT was associated with increasing global amyloid accumulation even after controlling for psychological symptoms (B = 0.0120, 95% Confidence Interval 0.003 to 0.021, P = 0.012), and in sensitivity analyses limited to participants aged ≥50 or ≥60. Post-hoc tests showed a significant difference in rate of amyloid accumulation between the lowest and highest RNT tertiles (P=0.008). Voxelwise analyses revealed that RNT predicted significantly faster increases in regions vulnerable to early amyloid accumulation in AD (e.g. precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, and medial frontal cortex). RNT was not associated with change in glucose metabolism or brain atrophy (Ps>0.05). Neither anxiety nor depressive symptoms were associated with change in any neuroimaging outcome (Ps>0.05). Conclusions and Relevance: Higher RNT was associated with more rapid accumulation of cortical amyloid in regions affected early in AD. These findings indicate that this transdiagnostic cognitive-emotional process may be an early marker and/or driver of AD pathology. Given that RNT is responsive to treatment, future research is needed to investigate whether modifying RNT reduces AD risk.
Key findings
- RNT was associated with increasing global amyloid accumulation even after controlling for psychological symptoms (B = 0.0120, 95% Confidence Interval 0.003 to 0.021, P = 0.012), and in sensitivity analyses limited to participants aged ≥50 or ≥60.
- Post-hoc tests showed a significant difference in rate of amyloid accumulation between the lowest and highest RNT tertiles (P=0.008).
- Voxelwise analyses revealed that RNT predicted significantly faster increases in regions vulnerable to early amyloid accumulation in AD (e.g. precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, and medial frontal cortex).
- RNT was not associated with change in glucose metabolism or brain atrophy (Ps>0.05).
- Neither anxiety nor depressive symptoms were associated with change in any neuroimaging outcome (Ps>0.05).
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 16/100
Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. It scored 35 on the same rubric, but non-peer-reviewed sources are capped at 16, so it shows as 16. 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 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 and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 22 of the 62 points we could judge it on, which is 35 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 2 / 10 | Tier 4 — not a peer-reviewed journal (medRxiv) |
| Journal's citation record | 0 / 4 | Not a journal article, so the journal's record does not count |
| 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 | 4 / 10 | Preprint — not yet peer-reviewed. Hosted on a preprint server. |
| How recent | 5 / 5 | 2026 — within 1 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 | 1 / 2 | Not in PubMed, but has a DOI |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 22 / 62 | Scored on 12 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 22 of the 62 points we could judge it on is 35 out of 100. |
| Total | 35 / 100 | Capped to 16 because this is not a peer-reviewed article. |
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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 names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Marchant, N. L., Mezenge, F., Raghavan, A. V., Saul, E., De La Sayette, V., The IMAP Research Group, et al. (2026). Repetitive negative thinking is associated with amyloid accumulation over 3 years in cognitively healthy adults. medRxiv. https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.29.26366526
Vancouver
Marchant NL, Mezenge F, Raghavan AV, Saul E, De La Sayette V, The IMAP Research Group, et al. Repetitive negative thinking is associated with amyloid accumulation over 3 years in cognitively healthy adults. medRxiv. 2026. doi:10.64898/2026.10.29.26366526.
BibTeX
@article{marchant2026-7e465f34,
author = {Marchant, N. L. and Mezenge, F. and Raghavan, A. V. and Saul, E. and De La Sayette, V. and {The IMAP Research Group} and Chételat, G.},
title = {{Repetitive negative thinking is associated with amyloid accumulation over 3 years in cognitively healthy adults}},
journal = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.29.26366526},
url = {https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.10.29.26366526}
}