Pezzoli Stefania, Giorgio Joseph, Chen Xi, Ward Tyler J, Harrison Theresa M, Jagust William J
Department of Neuroscience, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.
Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA.
Alzheimers Dement. 2025 Feb;21(2):e14515. doi: 10.1002/alz.14515. Epub 2025 Jan 14.
Successful cognitive aging is related to both maintaining brain structure and avoiding Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology, but how these factors interplay is unclear.
A total of 109 cognitively normal older adults (70+ years old) underwent amyloid beta (Aβ) and tau positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and cognitive testing. Cognitive aging was quantified using the cognitive age gap (CAG), subtracting chronological age from predicted cognitive age.
Lower CAG (younger cognitive age) was related to slower decline in episodic memory, multi-domain cognition, and atrophy of the midcingulate cortex (MCC). Lower entorhinal cortical tau was linked to slower decline in episodic memory, multi-domain cognition, and hippocampal atrophy.
These results suggest that aging outcomes may be influenced by two independent pathways: one associated with tau accumulation, affecting primarily memory and hippocampal atrophy, and another involving tau-independent structural preservation of the MCC, benefiting multi-domain cognition over time.
Younger cognitive age (lower cognitive age gap [CAG]) is related to slower cognitive decline. Lower CAG is linked to slower midcingulate cortex (MCC) atrophy. Reduced tau in the entorhinal cortex is related to less hippocampal atrophy and cognitive decline. Structural preservation of the MCC benefits multi-domain cognition over time. Two independent pathways influence cognitive aging: tau accumulation and MCC preservation.
成功的认知老化与维持脑结构和避免阿尔茨海默病（AD）病理改变均相关，但这些因素如何相互作用尚不清楚。
共有109名认知正常的老年人（70岁及以上）接受了淀粉样蛋白β（Aβ）和tau正电子发射断层扫描（PET）成像、结构磁共振成像（MRI）以及认知测试。使用认知年龄差距（CAG）对认知老化进行量化，即从预测的认知年龄中减去实际年龄。
较低的CAG（较年轻的认知年龄）与情景记忆、多领域认知的较慢衰退以及扣带回中部皮质（MCC）萎缩相关。内嗅皮质tau水平较低与情景记忆、多领域认知的较慢衰退以及海马萎缩相关。
这些结果表明，老化结果可能受两条独立途径影响：一条与tau积累相关，主要影响记忆和海马萎缩；另一条涉及MCC的非tau依赖性结构保存，随着时间推移有益于多领域认知。
较年轻的认知年龄（较低的认知年龄差距[CAG]）与较慢的认知衰退相关。较低的CAG与扣带回中部皮质（MCC）较慢萎缩相关。内嗅皮质中tau减少与较少的海马萎缩和认知衰退相关。随着时间推移，MCC的结构保存有益于多领域认知。两条独立途径影响认知老化：tau积累和MCC保存。
