ArticlePloS one2020
Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness predicts CSF amyloid/tau before cognitive decline.
Article in PloS one, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 35 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Retinal biomarkers for early Alzheimer's detection: a systematic review of optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings.BMJ open ophthalmology · 2026Pooled it
- A Systematic Review on Retinal Biomarkers to Diagnose Dementia from OCT/OCTA Images.Journal of Alzheimer's disease reports · 2023Pooled it
- Interactive effects of retinal biomarkers and sleep on cognition: longitudinal evidence from community-dwelling older adults.GeroScience · 2026Article
- Combining OCT and OCT angiography improves differentiation of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2026Article
- Advances in Optical Tissue Clearing for Three-Dimensional Ocular Imaging and Analysis.Journal of ophthalmology · 2026Review
- The diabetic retina-brain axis hypothesis in diabetic cognitive impairment: from pathophysiological mechanisms to therapeutic implications.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Review
- Emerging Oculomic Signatures: Linking Thickness of Entire Retinal Layers with Plasma Biomarkers in Preclinical Alzheimer's Disease.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Ocular changes as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Review
- Retinal ganglion cell vulnerability to pathogenic tau in Alzheimer's disease.Acta neuropathologica communications · 2025Article
- Retinal ganglion cell vulnerability to pathogenic tau in Alzheimer's disease.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Identification of retinal oligomeric, citrullinated, and other tau isoforms in early and advanced AD and relations to disease status.Acta neuropathologica · 2024Article
- Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology in the Retina.Progress in retinal and eye research · 2024Review
- Retina pathology as a target for biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease: Current status, ophthalmopathological background, challenges, and future directions.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2024Article
- Development of a three-dimensional organoid model to explore early retinal phenotypes associated with Alzheimer's disease.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Retinal photoreceptor layer thickness has disease specificity and distinguishes predicted FTLD-Tau from biomarker-determined Alzheimer's disease.Neurobiology of aging · 2023Article
- Retinal pathological features and proteome signatures of Alzheimer's disease.Acta neuropathologica · 2023Article
- Review: Emerging Eye-Based Diagnostic Technologies for Traumatic Brain Injury.IEEE reviews in biomedical engineering · 2023Review
- Associations Between Thinner Retinal Neuronal Layers and Suboptimal Brain Structural Integrity in a Middle-Aged Cohort.Eye and brain · 2023Article
- Retinal Examination Modalities in the Early Detection of Alzheimer's Disease: Seeing Brain Through the Eye.Journal of translational internal medicine · 2022Article
- Schizophrenia in Translation: Why the Eye?Schizophrenia bulletin · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAlzheimer's disease (AD) pathology precedes symptoms and its detection can identify at-risk individuals who may benefit from early treatment. Since the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) is depleted in established AD, we tested whether its thickness can predict whether cognitively healthy (CH) individuals have a normal or pathological cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aß42 (A) and tau (T) ratio.
methodsAs part of an ongoing longitudinal study, we enrolled CH individuals, excluding those with cognitive impairment and significant ocular pathology. We classified the CH group into two sub-groups, normal (CH-NAT, n = 16) or pathological (CH-PAT, n = 27), using a logistic regression model from the CSF AT ratio that identified >85% of patients with a clinically probable AD diagnosis. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) was acquired for RNFL, ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL), and macular thickness. Group differences were tested using mixed model repeated measures and a classification model derived using multiple logistic regression.
resultsMean age (± standard deviation) in the CH-PAT group (n = 27; 75.2 ± 8.4 years) was similar (p = 0.50) to the CH-NAT group (n = 16; 74.1 ± 7.9 years). Mean RNFL (standard error) was thinner in the CH-PAT group by 9.8 (2.7) μm; p < 0.001. RNFL thickness classified CH-NAT vs. CH-PAT with 87% sensitivity and 56.3% specificity.
conclusionsOur retinal data predict which individuals have CSF biomarkers of AD pathology before cognitive deficits are detectable with 87% sensitivity. Such results from easy-to-acquire, objective and non-invasive measurements of the RNFL merit further study of OCT technology to monitor or screen for early AD pathology.
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