New advances in tau imaging in parkinsonism

Abstract

Currently, the differential diagnosis between atypical parkinsonisms and classical idiopathic Parkinson’s disease can be quite difficult because of the significant overlap of clinical presentation and symptoms. Neurodegenerative conditions, including progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), are primarily characterized by accumulation of tau protein in the brain. Recent imaging developments for tau pathology may provide a promising tool for the assessment of diagnosis, prognosis, and progression of these neurodegenerative disorders. This review will survey PET studies to describe the recent advances in the imaging of tau pathology in PSP, CBD, and FTD.

Keywords:

• Parkinsonian disorders
• progressive supranuclear palsy
• corticobasal degeneration
• frontotemporal dementia
• tauopathy
• PET imaging

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (MOP 136778). APS is supported by the Canada Research Chair program.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.