Alzheimer's Imaging Consortium

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Biomarkers
• Cognitive Science

Background:

• Recent Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnostics utilize amyloid (A), tau (T), and neurodegeneration (N) biomarkers.
• The impact of comorbid vascular (V) pathology and the combined influence of ATNV on cognition remain unclear.
• Understanding ATNV's role is crucial for personalized AD diagnosis, prognosis, and care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the relative contribution of neuroimaging-based ATNV measures to cognitive performance and decline.
• To compare these contributions across cross-national cohorts (US and South Korea).

Main Methods:

• Two prospective cohorts (ADNI3, US; KBASE, South Korea) with similar designs were analyzed.
• Neuroimaging (PET, MRI) and cognitive data were collected, measuring continuous ATNV predictors.
• Multivariable linear mixed-effect models assessed associations between baseline ATNV and cognitive outcomes, adjusting for covariates.

Main Results:

• ATNV measures increased with clinical disease severity in both cohorts.
• In the US cohort (ADNI), tau (T) and neurodegeneration (N) were linked to lower cognitive intercepts across domains.
• Tau (T) predicted cognitive decline in the US, while vascular (V) pathology affected specific functions; findings varied in the Korean cohort (KBASE).

Conclusions:

• Tau (T) and neurodegeneration (N) biomarkers show the strongest association with cognition in both US and Korean populations.
• Tau pathology is the most significant predictor of future cognitive decline in the US, but this association was not observed in the Korean cohort.