Functional activity alterations are one of the earliest hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD), already detected prior to beta-amyloid plaque and tau-tangle accumulation. To reveal the physiological basis underpinning these changes at the onset of the pathology, we leveraged fMRI in the 3xTgAD mouse model for AD. Resting-state fMRI revealed functional connectivity loss within areas homologous to the human temporal lobe, particularly the entorhinal cortex. Optogenetic activation of the entorhinal cortex results, instead, in enhanced fMRI signal, thus denoting an increase in metabolic demand under load. This is corroborated by synaptic hyperexcitability in the highlighted projection targets, reported with electrophysiological recordings. Thus, 3xTgAD mice reveal a dichotomic behavior between resting and evoked states, resulting in a functional brain-wide reorganization with local underpinnings, which reconciles evidence from the human literature. The 3xTgAD tauopathy profile resembles that in AD patients closely, suggesting that similar pathophysiological mechanisms might underlie network dysfunction in clinical cases.
Results
Phosphorylated tau in ventral-amygdaloid-striatal networks precedes amyloid depositionTo determine the pathological state, brain slices from 3xTgAD and control animals aged 3, 6, and 10 months were examined for immunoreactivity to 6e10 (targeting the N-terminus of beta-amyloid, Aβ) and AT8 (targeting phospho-tau (Ser202, Thr205)). Consistent with previous description 9,16 , no immunoreactivity was observed to 6e10 at 3 and 6 months of age ( Supplementary Fig. 1), while AT8 binding was revealed in the amygdala at 3 months, spreading to the hippocampus at 6 and 10 months ( Fig. 1d, Supplementary Fig. 2). Only at 10 months of age did 3xTgAD exhibit the immunoreactivity patterns attributable to neurofibrillary tangles ( Supplementary Fig. 2c).We confirmed these results with ELISA performed on brain tissue homogenate. Soluble Aβ1-40 levels in 3xTgAD were of comparable magnitude (~12000/~16000 pg/mg) to that of age-matched control animals at 3 months of age; a difference of 1.7-fold in soluble Aβ1-40 was seen between controls (~9000 pg/ml) and 3xTgAD (~16000 pg/ml) at 6 months of age. No difference was reported for insoluble Aβ1-40 at both age points. Furthermore, 3xTgAD mice showed an increase in total tau of several orders of magnitude compared to age-matched controls at both age points, e.g., 20-fold increment at 6 months of age. We conclude that 3xTgAD mice aged 3 and 6 months represent a preplaque and pre-tangle stage of AD-like pathology. The 3-and 6-months age points were, therefore, examined in the remainder of this study.
The ventral-amygdaloid-striatal network is affected during tauopathy in mice and humansTo examine spontaneous fluctuations in brain activity, we recorded rsfMRI in male 3xTgAD and wildtype control mice on the same background strain (129sv/c57bl6) at 3 (N3xTgAD = 19, Ncontrols = 10) and 6 months of age (N3xTgAD = 13, Ncontrols = 10), longitudinally. The rsfMRI protocol empl...