Work

Hippocampal connectivity with retrosplenial cortex drives neocortical tau accumulation and memory function

Year: 2021

Type: preprint

Abstract: The mechanisms underlying accumulation of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)-related tau pathology outside of the medial temporal lobe (MTL) in older adults are unknown but crucial to understanding cognitive decline. Neural connectivity has recently been implicated in the propagation of tau in humans, consistent with data from animal studies. Using resting state functional connectivity and tau PET imaging, we examined MTL structures involved in medial parietal tau deposition in cognitively normal older adults. Functional connectivity between retrosplenial cortex and hippocampus, but not entorhinal cortex, correlated with tau in medial parietal lobe. Further, hippocampal-retrosplenial connectivity strength modulated the correlation between MTL and medial parietal lobe tau, as well as between medial parietal tau and episodic memory. Medial parietal tau spread thus reflects patterns of neural connectivity that represent a critical step in the evolution of cognitive dysfunction in aging and AD.

DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-235539/v1

Authors: Jacob Ziontz, Jenna Adams, Theresa Harrison, Suzanne Baker, William Jagust

Institutions: University of California, Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Language: English

Topic: Dementia and Cognitive Impairment Research

Subfield: Psychiatry and Mental health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: gold

Funders: Rainwater Charitable Foundation, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke