Correlations between neuropsychiatric symptoms and beta-amyloid (Aβ) burden in specific brain regions in living Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients remain to be elucidated. Ten mild AD patients underwent MR and [11C]SB-13 PET imaging. Neuropsychiatric symptoms were quantified with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). NPI-depression/dysphoria, -apathy, -agitation/aggression, -anxiety, and -appetite/eating disorders scores were hypothesized to correlate with Aβ burden in particular brain regions. Pearson’s correlation coefficient revealed that depression/dysphoria scores positively correlated (p<0.05) with standardized uptake values (SUVs) from left medial temporal lobe (r=0.67), and agitation/aggression correlated with SUVs from bilateral anterior cingulate (right, r=0.71; left, r=0.78), temporal (right, r=0.71; left, r=0.75), parietal (right, r=0.77; left, r=0.81), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (right, r=0.74; left, r=0.73). However, NPI scores did not significantly correlate with better estimates of Aβ burden that use the cerebellum as reference region. Overall, our results confirm the lack of association between Aβ burden and neuropsychiatric symptoms reported in autopsy studies.

Correlations between neuropsychiatric symptoms and beta-amyloid (Aβ) burden in specific brain regions in living Alzheimer’s disease (AD) patients remain to be elucidated. Ten mild AD patients underwent MR and [11C]SB-13 PET imaging. Neuropsychiatric symptoms were quantified with the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI). NPI-depression/dysphoria, -apathy, -agitation/aggression, -anxiety, and -appetite/eating disorders scores were hypothesized to correlate with Aβ burden in particular brain regions. Pearson’s correlation coefficient revealed that depression/dysphoria scores positively correlated (p<0.05) with standardized uptake values (SUVs) from left medial temporal lobe (r=0.67), and agitation/aggression correlated with SUVs from bilateral anterior cingulate (right, r=0.71; left, r=0.78), temporal (right, r=0.71; left, r=0.75), parietal (right, r=0.77; left, r=0.81), and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (right, r=0.74; left, r=0.73). However, NPI scores did not significantly correlate with better estimates of Aβ burden that use the cerebellum as reference region. Overall, our results confirm the lack of association between Aβ burden and neuropsychiatric symptoms reported in autopsy studies.