In vivo and autopsy evidence supports locus coeruleus MRI measures as proxy of initial TAU deposition and amyloid-related memory decline.

Tau and beta-amyloid (Aβ) proteins accumulate along neuronal circuits in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Unraveling the genetic background for the regional vulnerability of these proteinopathies can help in understanding the mechanisms of pathology progression. To that end, we developed a novel graph theory approach and used it to investigate the intersection of longitudinal Aβ and tau PET imaging of healthy adult individuals and the genetic transcriptome of the Allen Human Brain Atlas. We identified distinctive pathways for tau and Aβ accumulation, of which the tau pathways correlated with cognitive levels. We found that tau- and Aβ-propagation patterns were associated with a common genetic profile related to lipid metabolism, in which APOE played a central role, whereas the tau-specific genetic profile was classified as “axon-related” and the Aβ profile as “dendrite-related”. This is the first study revealing distinct genetic profiles that may confer vulnerability to tau- and Aβ-in-vivo-propagation in the human brain.

Substance addiction (or drug addiction) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by a recurring desire to continue taking the drug despite harmful consequences. Non-substance addiction (or behavioral addiction) covers pathological gambling, food addiction, internet addiction, and mobile phone addiction. Their definition is similar to drug addiction but they differ from each other in specific domains. This review aims to provide a brief overview of past and current definitions of substance and non-substance addiction, and also touches on the topic of diagnosing drug addiction and non-drug addiction, ultimately aiming to further the understanding of the key concepts needed for a foundation to study the biological and psychological underpinnings of addiction disorders.