Elucidating the Neurobiological Underpinnings of Mild Behavioral Impairment in Tauopathies: Clinical and Molecular Insights

Mild behavioral impairment (MBI) is a clinical syndrome characterized by the late-life onset and persistence of neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSs), representing a change from longstanding behavior or personality and considered a potential prodrome of neurodegenerative disease. MBI is classified into five domains: decreased motivation, affective dysregulation, impulse dyscontrol, social inappropriateness, and psychotic symptoms. In this narrative review, we synthesize clinical, neuroanatomical, and molecular evidence linking MBI to the spectrum of tauopathies, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), frontotemporal spectrum disorders (FTSDs), and primary four-repeat tauopathies such as progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). Emerging evidence suggests that early behavioral symptoms associated with MBI may reflect the selective vulnerability of frontolimbic, salience, default mode, and frontostriatal networks to tau-mediated neurodegeneration. Mechanistically, converging findings support roles for tau-related synaptic dysfunction, including synaptotoxic soluble tau species, cytoskeletal and axonal transport disruption, monoaminergic neurotransmitter imbalance in brainstem systems, and neuroinflammatory and glial pathways. We also highlight genotype-related behavioral profiles in genetic frontotemporal lobar degeneration and discuss how scalable blood-based biomarkers, including neurofilament light chain, glial fibrillary acidic protein, and plasma phospho-tau species, may complement MBI-based phenotyping for differential diagnosis and prognostic stratification in clinical research.