Neuroinflammation in posterior cortical atrophy and typical Alzheimer’s disease

Posterior cortical atrophy (PCA) is a neurodegenerative, predominantly young‐onset syndrome most commonly caused by Alzheimer’s disease (AD). PCA presents with visual and spatial dysfunction attributed to occipito‐parietal or “posterior” brain regions rather than memory difficulties characteristic of typical Alzheimer’s disease (tAD) attributed to medial temporal regions. Whilst the underlying pathology of PCA and tAD are usually the same: Aβ plaques and tau neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs), imaging and neuropathological work points to a more posterior distribution of NFTs in PCA. Differences in inflammatory response have been proposed to relate to AD heterogeneity evident in PCA. This study compared neuroinflammation between PCA and tAD in relation to Aβ and tau at autopsy.