Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Sep;13(9):1048-1053.
doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2017.01.028. Epub 2017 Mar 16.

Cognitive decline associated with pathological burden in primary age-related tauopathy

Kyra S Jefferson-George  1 , David A Wolk  1 , Edward B Lee  2 , Corey T McMillan  3
Affiliations

Cognitive decline associated with pathological burden in primary age-related tauopathy

Kyra S Jefferson-George et al. Alzheimers Dement. 2017 Sep.

Abstract

Introduction: Primary age-related tauopathy (PART) is a neuropathological diagnosis characterized by tau neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in the absence of amyloid plaque pathology. Although most individuals over 50 years of age have evidence of NFTs, the clinical and cognitive consequences of PART are not known.

Methods: We evaluated 226 neuropathologically confirmed PART cases from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center database who participated in a total of 846 longitudinal neuropsychological assessments from the Alzheimer's Disease Center program's Uniform Data Set. Mixed-effects statistical models tested whether cognitive decline was associated with Braak stage NFT burden.

Results: Higher stages of NFT burden in PART, with no evidence or minimal evidence of amyloid pathology, were associated with more rapid decline on tasks involving episodic and semantic memory along with tests of processing speed and attention.

Discussion: We conclude that PART has cognitive consequences that should be considered in the context of emerging tau-targeted therapies in age-associated neurodegenerative diseases.

Keywords: Clinical prognosis; Cognition; Primary age-related tauopathy; Tau.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest. Nothing to Report

References

    1. McKhann GM, Knopman DS, Chertkow H, Hyman BT, Jack CR, Kawas CH, et al. The diagnosis of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease: recommendations from the National Institute on Aging-Alzheimer’s Association workgroups on diagnostic guidelines for Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimers Dement. 2011;7:263–9. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2011.03.005. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jellinger KA, Attems J. Neurofibrillary tangle-predominant dementia: comparison with classical Alzheimer disease. Acta Neuropathol. 2007;113:107–17. doi: 10.1007/s00401-006-0156-7. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Yamada M. Senile dementia of the neurofibrillary tangle type (tangle-only dementia): neuropathological criteria and clinical guidelines for diagnosis. Neuropathology. 2003;23:311–7. - PubMed
    1. Knopman DS, Parisi JE, Salviati A, Floriach-Robert M, Boeve BF, Ivnik RJ, et al. Neuropathology of cognitively normal elderly. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol. 2003;62:1087–95. - PubMed
    1. Bennett DA, Schneider JA, Arvanitakis Z, Kelly JF, Aggarwal NT, Shah RC, et al. Neuropathology of older persons without cognitive impairment from two community-based studies. Neurology. 2006;66:1837–44. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000219668.47116.e6. - DOI - PubMed