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Tau conformational changes correspond to impairments of episodic memory in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease
Ghoshal N, García-Sierra F, Wuu J, Leurgans S, Bennett DA, Berry RW, Binder LI.. Experimental neurology, 2002-10-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
A multitiered strategy was adopted to assess tau conformational changes within fibrillar lesions during the progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Anti-tau monoclonal antibodies whose epitopes are distributed across much of the molecule were used to probe vulnerable brain regions in 37 clinically staged cases obtained from the Religious Orders Study. In this way, tau conformational changes were evaluated as the disease progressed from early cognitive decline to AD. These analyses revealed three main findings. First, the presence of granulovacuolar and fibrillar lesions correlates with several measures of episodic memory, suggesting that these lesions significantly contribute to cognitive dysfunction. Second, neuropil threads precede the appearance of neurofibrillary tangles that in turn precede the appearance of neuritic plaques. Third, tau structural changes, or "conformational signatures," emerged as a result of in situ reactivity to a subset of antibodies and nonreactivity to others, thereby reflecting the underlying status of the tau molecule within the fibrillar lesions. These signatures allowed us to document a sequence of tau conformational changes that occur during AD and to correlate these changes with episodic memory deficits. Furthermore, we were able to compare conformational signatures of tau among different lesion types and determine that the molecular profile of tau is lesion-specific.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
Ghoshal, N., García-Sierra, F., Wuu, J., Leurgans, S., Bennett, D. A., Berry, R. W., et al. (2002). Tau conformational changes correspond to impairments of episodic memory in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Experimental neurology. https://doi.org/10.1006/exnr.2002.8014
Vancouver
Ghoshal N, García-Sierra F, Wuu J, Leurgans S, Bennett DA, Berry RW, et al. Tau conformational changes correspond to impairments of episodic memory in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease. Experimental neurology. 2002. doi:10.1006/exnr.2002.8014. PMID: 12429193.
BibTeX
@article{ghoshal2002-12429193,
author = {Ghoshal, N. and García-Sierra, F. and Wuu, J. and Leurgans, S. and Bennett, D. A. and Berry, R. W. and Binder, L. I.},
title = {{Tau conformational changes correspond to impairments of episodic memory in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease}},
journal = {Experimental neurology},
year = {2002},
doi = {10.1006/exnr.2002.8014},
pmid = {12429193},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1006/exnr.2002.8014}
}
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.
Key findings
- These analyses revealed three main findings.
- First, the presence of granulovacuolar and fibrillar lesions correlates with several measures of episodic memory, suggesting that these lesions significantly contribute to cognitive dysfunction.
- Third, tau structural changes, or "conformational signatures," emerged as a result of in situ reactivity to a subset of antibodies and nonreactivity to others, thereby reflecting the underlying status of the tau molecule within the fibrillar lesions.
Why it matters
In brain tissue from 37 clinically staged cases, the presence of granulovacuolar and fibrillar lesions correlated with several measures of episodic memory, and tau conformational changes were documented in sequence during Alzheimer's disease. The authors say these conformational changes correlated with episodic memory deficits.
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 41/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Experimental neurology) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Experimental Neurology: journal h-index 271 (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 | 1 / 5 | 2002 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| 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 | 5 / 7 | Cited 193 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 7.4 citations a year over 26 year(s) since 2002 |
| Impact for its field and year | 3 / 6 | Cited 4.4× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 2 / 6 | Cited by 9 other studies in this library |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 13 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Nupur Ghoshal: h-index 37 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 2 / 3 | Northwestern University: institution h-index 1,592 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 12429193) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 41 / 100 | — |
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