Tau protein spreads through functionally connected neurons in Alzheimer’s disease

Recent studies in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) suggest that tau proteins spread through the brain following neuronal connections. Several mechanisms could be involved in this process: spreading between brain regions that interact strongly (functionally connected); through the pattern of anatomical connections (structural connectivity); or simple diffusion to spatially adjacent regions (Euclidean distance (EC)). We investigated this by modelling the tau‐spreading process on these different networks, and compared the modelled tau‐depositions with tau‐depositions at several stages of the AD continuum as measured with in‐vivo 18F‐flortaucipir PET.