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Spatiotemporal patterns of locus coeruleus integrity predict cortical tau and cognition
Bueichekú E, Diez I, Kim CM, Becker JA, Koops EA, Kwong K, Papp KV, Salat DH et al.. Nature aging, 2024-04-25
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Autopsy studies indicated that the locus coeruleus (LC) accumulates hyperphosphorylated tau before allocortical regions in Alzheimer's disease. By combining in vivo longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging measures of LC integrity, tau positron emission tomography imaging and cognition with autopsy data and transcriptomic information, we examined whether LC changes precede allocortical tau deposition and whether specific genetic features underlie LC's selective vulnerability to tau. We found that LC integrity changes preceded medial temporal lobe tau accumulation, and together these processes were associated with lower cognitive performance. Common gene expression profiles between LC-medial temporal lobe-limbic regions map to biological functions in protein transport regulation. These findings advance our understanding of the spatiotemporal patterns of initial tau spreading from the LC and LC's selective vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease pathology. LC integrity measures can be a promising indicator for identifying the time window when individuals are at risk of disease progression and underscore the importance of interventions mitigating initial tau spread.
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APA 7th
Bueichekú, E., Diez, I., Kim, C. M., Becker, J. A., Koops, E. A., Kwong, K., et al. (2024). Spatiotemporal patterns of locus coeruleus integrity predict cortical tau and cognition. Nature aging. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-024-00626-y
Vancouver
Bueichekú E, Diez I, Kim CM, Becker JA, Koops EA, Kwong K, et al. Spatiotemporal patterns of locus coeruleus integrity predict cortical tau and cognition. Nature aging. 2024. doi:10.1038/s43587-024-00626-y. PMID: 38664576.
BibTeX
@article{bueicheku2024-38664576,
author = {Bueichekú, E. and Diez, I. and Kim, C. M. and Becker, J. A. and Koops, E. A. and Kwong, K. and Papp, K. V. and Salat, D. H. and others},
title = {{Spatiotemporal patterns of locus coeruleus integrity predict cortical tau and cognition}},
journal = {Nature aging},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.1038/s43587-024-00626-y},
pmid = {38664576},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-024-00626-y}
}
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Key findings
- Autopsy studies indicated that the locus coeruleus (LC) accumulates hyperphosphorylated tau before allocortical regions in Alzheimer's disease.
- We found that LC integrity changes preceded medial temporal lobe tau accumulation, and together these processes were associated with lower cognitive performance.
- These findings advance our understanding of the spatiotemporal patterns of initial tau spreading from the LC and LC's selective vulnerability to Alzheimer's disease pathology.
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Study details
- Study designlongitudinal study
- Evidence strengthModerate
How this study scored 60/100
Published in a leading specialty journal, and it is a longitudinal study following the same people over 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 and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 35 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 60 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 9 / 10 | Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Nature aging) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| 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 | 4 / 5 | 2024 — 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 38664576) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 35 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 35 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 60 out of 100. |
| Total | 60 / 100 | — |
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