Depressive Symptoms Correlate With Tau Accumulation Rates in Amyloid Positive Adults

Depression in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is linked to faster cognitive decline and increased tau pathology. This study examines the relationship between depressive symptoms and tau accumulation rates in older adults from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) database.

Three-hundred and three ADNI participants with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia underwent serial [18F]-flortaucipir tau positron-emission tomography (PET) between 2015 and 2022. We assessed whether the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) score between baseline and final PET scans correlated with rates of tau accumulation in a temporal lobe meta-region of interest.

GDS score was positively correlated with annualized tau accumulation rates in models adjusted for baseline tau burden, amyloid status on PET, and APOE genotype. This correlation was observed in amyloid-positive, but not amyloid-negative, participants.

Depressive symptoms in amyloid-positive adults correlate with accelerated tau accumulation, suggesting that depression may have particular relevance as an indicator of AD pathology progression, and represents a target for future research into modifiable risk factors in AD.