Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37742643›Full record

ArticleJournal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD2023

Medial Temporal Lobe Tau Aggregation Relates to Divergent Cognitive and Emotional Empathy Abilities in Alzheimer's Disease.

Tiffany E Chow, Christina R Veziris, Nidhi Mundada, Alexis I Martinez-Arroyo, Joel H Kramer, Bruce L Miller, Howard J Rosen, Maria Luisa Gorno-Tempini, Katherine P Rankin, William W Seeley and 3 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.0field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 8 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Social cognition in mild cognitive impairment and dementia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Empathy in primary progressive aphasia: Neural signatures and longitudinal trajectories.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Tiffany E ChowMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Christina R VezirisMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Nidhi MundadaMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Alexis I Martinez-ArroyoMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Joel H KramerMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Bruce L MillerMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Howard J RosenMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Maria Luisa Gorno-TempiniMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Katherine P RankinMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
William W SeeleyMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Gil D RabinoviciMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Renaud La JoieMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Virginia E SturmMemory and Aging Center, Department of Neurology, Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA.
University of California, San Francisco · US

Funding

Research Education ComponentP30AG062422 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI Jennifer S Yokoyama · 2019 to 2026
$36.9M
PrPSc SPECIFIC INTERACTION WITH NOVEL PrP-Fc FUSION PROTEINSP50AG023501 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI MILLER, BRUCE L · 2004 to 2018
$27.1M
Attention and Semantic Evaluation as Predictors of Empathy in Healthy Aging and Frontotemporal DementiaRF1AG029577 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI RANKIN, KATHERINE P · 2019 to 2019
$4.0M
Emotion alterations across the Alzheimer's disease spectrumR01AG073244 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI STURM, VIRGINIA EMILY · 2021 to 2025
$4.0M
Neurobiological Basis of Emotion Regulation Trajectories in Early Alzheimer's DiseaseR01AG057204 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI STURM, VIRGINIA EMILY · 2017 to 2021
$3.9M
Identifying the Neural Basis and Functional Role of Emotional Empathy in DementiaK23AG040127 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI STURM, VIRGINIA EMILY · 2012 to 2016
$713k
Connectome-based spread of neurodegenerative processes in Alzheimer's diseaseK99AG065501 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI LA JOIE, RENAUD CHARLES · 2020 to 2021
$253k
NIA NIH HHS K23 AG040127NIA NIH HHS K99 AG065501NIA NIH HHS P30 AG062422NIA NIH HHS P50 AG023501NIA NIH HHS R01 AG057204NIA NIH HHS R01 AG073244NIA NIH HHS RF1 AG029577
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn Alzheimer's disease (AD), the gradual accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) and tau proteins may underlie alterations in empathy.

objectiveTo assess whether tau aggregation in the medial temporal lobes related to differences in cognitive empathy (the ability to take others' perspectives) and emotional empathy (the ability to experience others' feelings) in AD.

methodsOlder adults (n = 105) completed molecular Aβ positron emission tomography (PET) scans. Sixty-eight of the participants (35 women) were Aβ positive and symptomatic with diagnoses of mild cognitive impairment, dementia of the Alzheimer's type, logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia, or posterior cortical atrophy. The remaining 37 (22 women) were asymptomatic Aβ negative healthy older controls. Using the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, we compared current levels of informant-rated cognitive empathy (Perspective-Taking subscale) and emotional empathy (Empathic Concern subscale) in the Aβ positive and negative participants. The Aβ positive participants also underwent molecular tau-PET scans, which were used to investigate whether regional tau burden in the bilateral medial temporal lobes related to empathy.

resultsAβ positive participants had lower perspective-taking and higher empathic concern than Aβ negative healthy controls. Medial temporal tau aggregation in the Aβ positive participants had divergent associations with cognitive and emotional empathy. Whereas greater tau burden in the amygdala predicted lower perspective-taking, greater tau burden in the entorhinal cortex predicted greater empathic concern. Tau burden in the parahippocampal cortex did not predict either form of empathy.

conclusionsAcross AD clinical syndromes, medial temporal lobe tau aggregation is associated with lower perspective-taking yet higher empathic concern.

Indexed as

Alzheimer DiseaseCognitive DysfunctionAgedAmyloid beta-PeptidesCognitionEmpathyFemaleHumansPositron-Emission Tomographytau ProteinsTemporal LobeAmyloid beta-Peptidestau Proteinsaffective resonanceAlzheimer’s diseaseempathymentalizationsocial cognitiontau proteins

Identifiers

PMID37742643
PMCPMC10894587
OpenAlexW4386968359

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.