Autopsy studies have suggested that tau protein accumulation favors brain regions with less myelin.
Identification of myelin as a protective factor would implicate it as a possible therapeutic target for AD.The 612-member study population comprised select, biomarker-characterized patients from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative and the BioFINDER-1 study. Linear regression analysis, testing the association of functional connectivity, fiber tract myelination, and covariance of tau-PET scores between linked brain regions, demonstrated a significant association , with more myelinated tracts showing a lesser association with tau covariance.
An imaging template derived from healthy persons protected the MRI analysis from pathologic alterations in iron that could otherwise obfuscate the data. Understanding of the mechanism of protection would support the development of myelin-targeted therapies.The study was funded by the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases and by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.