A Cluster‐Based Machine Learning Approach for Evaluating Factors Associated with Tau Protein in Plasma

Plasma total tau (t‐tau) has shown acceptable diagnostic accuracy for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), but other factors than levels of t‐tau in the brain may influence peripheral levels. While little is known about peripheral factors that may influence plasma levels of t‐tau, such factors may be similar to those associated with AD, such as cardiovascular risk factors, which are often correlated. We have developed a machine learning pipeline to identify individual and clusters of correlated variables that might explain a proportion of the variance of plasma t‐tau levels in a well‐phenotyped population‐based cohort.