Fig. 2

Pathological features of the prodromal P301L carrier

Figures portrays the severity of tau burden in grey matter and white matter regions (a), the severity of neuronal degeneration per region (b), and the morphology of neuropathological tau inclusions (c) in the prodromal P301L case. There was moderate neuronal tau pathology in frontal neocortical/paralimbic and temporal neocortical regions, such as the middle frontal cortex (c) and the anterior temporal cortex (d). Inferior parietal, (para-)hippocampal regions such as the transentorhinal cortex (e), and the striatum (f) were more mildly affected. Neuronal pathology appeared primarily as diffuse neuronal cytoplasmic inclusions and neurofibrillary-tangle like inclusions (c1, e1), perinuclear rings (d1, f1), or round compact inclusions the dentate gyrus (e2). Mild amounts of globular astrocytic inclusions (c2), and less often granular-fuzzy astrocytes (f2), were present. White matter pathology was limited, and appeared as white matter threads and sporadically as a globular oligodendrocytic inclusion (d2). Scale overview = 200 μm; scale magnification = 20 μm

Legend: %AO = percentage of area occupied (by tau-positive pixels); ACC = anterior cingulate cortex; AMY = amygdala; ATC = anterior temporal cortex; CA1-4 = cornu ammonis 1–4; CAU = caudate nucleus; EC = entorhinal cortex; FG = fusiform gyrus; FIC = fronto-insular cortex; GD = gyrus dentatus; IPL = inferior parietal lobule; MFC = middle frontal cortex; PUT = putamen; SFC = superior frontal cortex; SUB = subiculum; TEC = transentorhinal cortex

Tau burden (y-axis, a) corresponds to the digitally measured %AO by tau pathology after applying natural logarithmic transformation