An accumulation of tau proteins in the brain can interfere with the salience system, which links different brain regions to enable us to react to external stimuli and thoughts.
Memory loss often comes to people’s minds when they think about dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Dementia can also alter a person’s personality, causing them to be more likely to experience anger, distress or depression. It may even lead to anxiety or apathy.
These behavioral changes, over time, can affect their life as much or more than losing the ability to remember and think clearly.
A team of University of Michigan scientists has reported new information about the possible brain activity of those who are experiencing the first signs of dementia.
They studied the brains and behavior of 128 early-stage dementia patients using two advanced imaging techniques. The researchers found a link between tau protein, one of the most critical brain communication networks, and the behavioral symptoms of an individual.
Scientists have known that tau is responsible for tangled nerve fibers in the brain areas involved with thinking and memory.
According to the new research, tau may disrupt the brain’s salience network. The highway of brain connections that connects specific regions is crucial to understanding and deciding how we react to what happens around us. This also allows us to process our thoughts and feelings.
Researchers found that behavioral changes were more likely to occur in people whose salience networks had been affected by tau. Their findings are published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia, The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.
The team notes that while the imaging can’t prove cause-and-effect, there is a strong correlation between the disruption of the salience networks and the behavior changes.
Researchers are calling for more research on the possible connection between tau and behavior changes in the brain over the years. They also want to examine what is happening within the connected pathways that form the salience network.
The researchers also plan to see if they can slow down the behavioral changes in early-stage dementia patients by applying mild magnetic or electrical fields from outside of the skull, guided by exact imaging.
Here, you can find out more information on how to participate in research.
Benjamin M. Hampstead, Ph.D. and Alexandru D. Hampstead, Ph.D lead researchers from the Research Program on Cognition and Neuromodulation-Based Interventions. They are both faculty members in the Department of Psychiatry at U-M Medical School.
Iordan is a lead neuroscientist and the author of this new study. He mentioned that they discovered a connection between tau pathology and behavioral symptoms through the dysfunction of a specific brain network called the salience system. The more severe the behavioral symptoms, the more the network is affected.
The study also states that “This is a first-ever study linking the biomarker level of a person with behavioral symptoms and the dysfunction of the network in individuals on the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum.”
There are two types of brain imaging.
They used fMRI to trace the three networks of each volunteer. Each network connected far-flung regions of the brain. The team used the Network Segregation Index to measure how independent each brain network is from other networks.
The researchers combined the fMRI results with those from neuropsychological testing and questionnaires about behavior that volunteers completed. The researchers also examined the results of positron-emission tomography (PET) scans, which showed whether volunteers’ brains contained excessive beta-amyloid and tau proteins.
Salience was the only network of three whose integrity level correlated with tau levels and severity of behavioral problems associated with dementia. It appears that the default mode is involved in supporting roles. The frontoparietal system, the third network studied, did not correlate with behavioral symptoms.
This new study found that, unlike tau, only amyloid was present in the brains of some participants. It did not affect the network of salience or the level of behavioral symptoms.
Iordan points out that it is known that the salience system plays a role in certain psychiatric conditions and frontotemporal degeneration, which is a form of dementia with rapid progression and early onset. It’s characterized by personality and behavioral changes.
Biomarkers and Neuromodulation: Potential applications
Iordan says that PET scans are used to diagnose dementia and manage treatment using new medications designed to slow cognitive decline by reducing amyloid buildup.
Blood tests to detect tau and amyloid and assess dementia risk have become more widely available. They are less costly than PET scans and could be used in future research on tau’s impact on behavioral changes.
More research can also explain or predict the variation in the rate of dementia-related behavioral changes and decline in individuals. This research could also help identify those whose behavioral changes may be the first detectable signs of dementia before their cognitive abilities change.
What is the most thrilling thing for Iordan and his co-workers?
He said, “Our findings give us a target functional for possible intervention.” We’re eagerly awaiting the results of Dr. Hampstead’s study! He and the RP-CNBI team are investigating if brain stimulation can change brain connections by testing different levels of electrical currents applied to the head. Their goal is to find non-drug treatments for Alzheimer’s and other dementias. The study is nearly complete, and we can’t wait to learn more about their findings!
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The study was also co-authored by Robert Ploutz, Robert Koeppe and Scott Peltier. Bruno Giordani and Roger L. Albin were the other authors. Hampstead leads the Michigan Alzheimer’s Disease Center’s clinical core. Several other authors also belong to the center.
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