PET Biomarkers for Tau Pathology

The aggregation and accumulation of pathologic forms of the microtubule-associated tau protein into fibrils, eventually forming characteristic tangle pathology, hallmarks the majority of all dementia disorders which constitute the most prevalent family of neurodegenerative disorders. These so-called tauopathies are difficult to identify and diagnose, especially at early disease stages. The relatively recent development of positron emission tomography tracers to visualize, map, and quantify tau pathology in the living brain has already provided substantial information about the temporal and spatial characteristics of tau accumulation during disease development, holding promise to serve as a highly valuable diagnostic tool in research and clinical settings. This chapter describes the current state of research employing tau biomarkers derived from neuroimaging with PET as well as recent technical developments in this field.