FDG‐PET is a sensitive imaging biomarker of the neurodegenerative changes that accompany early neurofibrillary tangle pathology

Neurofibrillary tangle pathology in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is closely related to neurodegeneration, which can be measured in‐vivo using structural MRI or FDG‐PET. However, previous imaging‐pathologic association studies found that gray matter atrophy on structural MRI is relatively insensitive to early stages of neurofibrillary tangle pathology as assessed by the Braak staging scheme. Here we assessed associations between post‐mortem neuropathological Braak staging and ante‐mortem glucose hypometabolism on FDG‐PET, which may be a more sensitive neuroimaging marker of early neurodegenerative changes preceding macrostructural gray matter atrophy.