Fig. 2.

Tau burden in the amygdala had a negative association with perspective-taking, but tau burden in the entorhinal cortex had a positive association with empathic concern. Forward-selection hierarchical regression models conducted in the Aβ+ group found tau burden in the MTL was differentially related to empathy. Greater tau burden in the A) left (final model b = –6.349, final model coefficient p = 0.003, final model adjusted R² = 0.466, n = 68) and B) right amygdala (final model b = –6.305, final model coefficient p = 0.009, final model adjusted R² = 0.451, n = 68) related to lower perspective-taking. In contrast, greater tau burden in the D) left (final model b = 3.610, final model coefficient p = 0.007, final model adjusted R² = 0.518, n = 68) and E) right entorhinal cortex (final model b = 4.217, final model coefficient p = 0.006, final model adjusted R² = 0.520, n = 68) was associated with greater empathic concern. Panels C and F indicate perspective-taking and empathic concern as they relate to tau burden in the bilateral amygdala and entorhinal cortex (tau burden in these bilateral regions were calculated as weighted averages using the number of voxels present in each MTL region). Covariates of non-interest in these analyses included gender, age at IRI, time interval in days between the tau-PET scan and IRI, CDR total score, and the contrasting IRI subscale (i.e., empathic concern or perspective-taking). Plotted regressions reflect the predicted fits from the analysis models, while the scatterplots indicate raw data grouped by diagnosis. MCI, mild cognitive impairment; DAT, dementia of the Alzheimer’s type; lvPPA, logopenic variant primary progressive aphasia; PCA, posterior cortical atrophy.