This page is alzhub.org's plain-English summary of a published study, not the paper itself. It is generated from the record we hold for this study, sourced and linked below — check the original for the full text and methods.

57/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 57 out of 100. Brain scans and imaging

Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models

Plain-language summary

Objective 18 F-flortaucipir (formerly 18 F-AV1451 or 18 F-T807) binds to neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer disease, but tissue studies assessing binding to tau aggregates in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) have yielded mixed results. We compared in vivo 18 F-flortaucipir uptake in patients meeting clinical research criteria for PSP (n = 33) to normal controls (n = 46) and patients meeting criteria for Parkinson disease (PD; n = 26). Methods Participants underwent magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography for amyloid-β ( 11 C-PiB or 18 F-florbetapir) and tau ( 18 F-flortaucipir). 18 F-flortaucipir standardized uptake value ratios were calculated (t = 80-100 minutes, cerebellum gray matter reference). Voxelwise and region-of-interest group comparisons were performed in template space, with receiver operating characteristic curve analyses to assess single-subject discrimination. Qualitative comparisons with postmortem tau are reported in 1 patient who died 9 months after 18 F-flortaucipir. Results Clinical PSP patients showed bilaterally elevated 18 F-flortaucipir uptake in globus pallidus, putamen, subthalamic nucleus, midbrain, and dentate nucleus relative to controls and PD patients (voxelwise p 18 F-flortaucipir in any region. A patient with clinical PSP and pathological diagnosis of corticobasal degeneration had severe tau pathology in PSP-related brain structures with good correspondence between in vivo 18 F-flortaucipir and postmortem tau neuropathology. Interpretation 18 F-flortaucipir uptake was elevated in PSP versus controls and PD patients in a pattern consistent with the expected distribution of tau pathology. Ann Neurol 2017;82:622-634.

What this study adds

Evidence grade: Low

The record lists 33 participants. This multicenter study found that the tau PET tracer 18F-flortaucipir showed elevated uptake in specific brain regions in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy compared with controls and Parkinson disease patients. It is an imaging study for distinguishing these conditions and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer disease.

Taken from this record’s own fields, not from reading the paper. The grade is assigned from the abstract’s wording; what that means.

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

APA 7th

Schonhaut, D. R., McMillan, C. T., Spina, S., Dickerson, B. C., Siderowf, A., Devous, M. D., et al. (2017). 18 F-flortaucipir tau positron emission tomography distinguishes established progressive supranuclear palsy from controls and Parkinson disease: A multicenter study. Annals of neurology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.25060

Vancouver

Schonhaut DR, McMillan CT, Spina S, Dickerson BC, Siderowf A, Devous MD, et al. 18 F-flortaucipir tau positron emission tomography distinguishes established progressive supranuclear palsy from controls and Parkinson disease: A multicenter study. Annals of neurology. 2017. doi:10.1002/ana.25060. PMID: 28980714.

BibTeX

@article{schonhaut2017-28980714,
  author  = {Schonhaut, D. R. and McMillan, C. T. and Spina, S. and Dickerson, B. C. and Siderowf, A. and Devous, M. D. and Tsai, R. and Winer, J. and others},
  title   = {{18 F-flortaucipir tau positron emission tomography distinguishes established progressive supranuclear palsy from controls and Parkinson disease: A multicenter study}},
  journal = {Annals of neurology},
  year    = {2017},
  doi     = {10.1002/ana.25060},
  pmid    = {28980714},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.25060}
}

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.

How to read this study

Design: our record does not state a study design, so check the methods section of the original before weighing the result.
Size: the record lists 33 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.

New to reading papers? Six questions to ask of any Alzheimer’s study · how we score.

Key findings

Objective 18 F-flortaucipir (formerly 18 F-AV1451 or 18 F-T807) binds to neurofibrillary tangles in Alzheimer disease, but tissue studies assessing binding to tau aggregates in progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) have yielded mixed results.
Results Clinical PSP patients showed bilaterally elevated 18 F-flortaucipir uptake in globus pallidus, putamen, subthalamic nucleus, midbrain, and dentate nucleus relative to controls and PD patients (voxelwise p 18 F-flortaucipir in any region.
Interpretation 18 F-flortaucipir uptake was elevated in PSP versus controls and PD patients in a pattern consistent with the expected distribution of tau pathology.

Why it matters

This multicenter study found that the tau PET tracer 18F-flortaucipir showed elevated uptake in specific brain regions in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy compared with controls and Parkinson disease patients. It is an imaging study for distinguishing these conditions and does not test any treatment, cure, or prevention for Alzheimer disease.

New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Brain scans & tests →

Study details

Participants33
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 57/100

Published in a leading specialty journal. Scored zero for study design, effect reported and randomized / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	9 / 10	Tier 2 — leading specialty journal (Annals of neurology)
Journal's citation record	3 / 4	Annals of Neurology: journal h-index 437 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	0 / 12	No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0)
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	2017 — within 10 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	1 / 4	33 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	5 / 7	Cited 176 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	3 / 5	16.0 citations a year over 11 year(s) since 2017
Impact for its field and year	4 / 6	Cited 12.1× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	2 / 6	Cited by 7 other studies in this library
Still being cited	2 / 4	Cited 33 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	4 / 4	Last-listed author Gil D. Rabinovici: h-index 116 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	3 / 3	Harvard University: institution h-index 3,235 (OpenAlex)
Multicenter collaboration	3 / 3	OpenAlex lists 10 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 28980714)
Free to read	0 / 2	Behind a paywall — scores zero
Total	57 / 100	—

What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →

Read the original

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

Studies in the library that share something with this one. The line above each title says what.

Studies this one cites

Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here. Showing 12 of 13.

Later studies that cite this one

7 studies in the alzhub library list this one in their references.

Related studies in Brain scans and imaging from nearby years

Also tagged “phosphorylated”

732 studies in the library carry the topic tag “phosphorylated”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 732 tagged studies.

Studies sharing this one's topic tags

Similar studies

More on Brain scans and imaging

See all studies in Brain scans and imaging →