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Browsing by Author "Benzinger, Tammie L.S."
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Item A trial of gantenerumab or solanezumab in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease(Springer Nature, 2021) Salloway, Stephen; Farlow, Martin; McDade, Eric; Clifford, David B.; Wang, Guoqiao; Llibre-Guerra, Jorge J.; Hitchcock, Janice M.; Mills, Susan L.; Santacruz, Anna M.; Aschenbrenner, Andrew J.; Hassenstab, Jason; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Gordon, Brian A.; Fagan, Anne M.; Coalier, Kelley A.; Cruchaga, Carlos; Goate, Alison A.; Perrin, Richard J.; Xiong, Chengjie; Li, Yan; Morris, John C.; Snider, B. Joy; Mummery, Catherine; Surti, G. Mustafa; Hannequin, Didier; Wallon, David; Berman, Sarah B.; Lah, James J.; Jimenez-Velazquez, Ivonne Z.; Roberson, Erik D.; van Dyck, Christopher H.; Honig, Lawrence S.; Sánchez-Valle, Raquel; Brooks, William S.; Gauthier, Serge; Galasko, Douglas R.; Masters, Colin L.; Brosch, Jared R.; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek Robin; Jayadev, Suman; Formaglio, Maité; Masellis, Mario; Clarnette, Roger; Pariente, Jérémie; Dubois, Bruno; Pasquier, Florence; Jack, Clifford R., Jr.; Koeppe, Robert; Snyder, Peter J.; Aisen, Paul S.; Thomas, Ronald G.; Berry, Scott M.; Wendelberger, Barbara A.; Andersen, Scott W.; Holdridge, Karen C.; Mintun, Mark A.; Yaari, Roy; Sims, John R.; Baudler, Monika; Delmar, Paul; Doody, Rachelle S.; Fontoura, Paulo; Giacobino, Caroline; Kerchner, Geoffrey A.; Bateman, Randall J.; Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network–Trials Unit; Neurology, School of MedicineDominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease (DIAD) causes predictable biological changes decades before the onset of clinical symptoms, enabling testing of interventions in the asymptomatic and symptomatic stages to delay or slow disease progression. We conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, multi-arm trial of gantenerumab or solanezumab in participants with DIAD across asymptomatic and symptomatic disease stages. Mutation carriers were assigned 3:1 to either drug or placebo and received treatment for 4-7 years. The primary outcome was a cognitive end point; secondary outcomes included clinical, cognitive, imaging and fluid biomarker measures. Fifty-two participants carrying a mutation were assigned to receive gantenerumab, 52 solanezumab and 40 placebo. Both drugs engaged their Aβ targets but neither demonstrated a beneficial effect on cognitive measures compared to controls. The solanezumab-treated group showed a greater cognitive decline on some measures and did not show benefits on downstream biomarkers. Gantenerumab significantly reduced amyloid plaques, cerebrospinal fluid total tau, and phospho-tau181 and attenuated increases of neurofilament light chain. Amyloid-related imaging abnormalities edema was observed in 19.2% (3 out of 11 were mildly symptomatic) of the gantenerumab group, 2.5% of the placebo group and 0% of the solanezumab group. Gantenerumab and solanezumab did not slow cognitive decline in symptomatic DIAD. The asymptomatic groups showed no cognitive decline; symptomatic participants had declined before reaching the target doses.Item Accelerated functional brain aging in pre-clinical familial Alzheimer’s disease(Springer Nature, 2021-09-09) Gonneaud, Julie; Baria, Alex T.; Binette, Alexa Pichet; Gordon, Brian A.; Chhatwal, Jasmeer P.; Cruchaga, Carlos; Jucker, Mathias; Levin, Johannes; Salloway, Stephen; Farlow, Martin; Gauthier, Serge; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Morris, John C.; Bateman, Randall J.; Breitner, John C.S.; Poirier, Judes; Vachon-Presseau, Etienne; Villeneuve, Sylvia; Neurology, School of MedicineResting state functional connectivity (rs-fMRI) is impaired early in persons who subsequently develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD) dementia. This impairment may be leveraged to aid investigation of the pre-clinical phase of AD. We developed a model that predicts brain age from resting state (rs)-fMRI data, and assessed whether genetic determinants of AD, as well as beta-amyloid (Aβ) pathology, can accelerate brain aging. Using data from 1340 cognitively unimpaired participants between 18–94 years of age from multiple sites, we showed that topological properties of graphs constructed from rs-fMRI can predict chronological age across the lifespan. Application of our predictive model to the context of pre-clinical AD revealed that the pre-symptomatic phase of autosomal dominant AD includes acceleration of functional brain aging. This association was stronger in individuals having significant Aβ pathology.Item Awareness of Genetic Risk in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN)(Wiley, 2020-01) Aschenbrenner, Andrew J.; James, Bryan D.; McDade, Eric; Wang, Guoqiao; Lim, Yen Ying; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Cruchaga, Carlos; Goate, Alison; Xiong, Chengjie; Perrin, Richard; Buckles, Virginia; Allegri, Ricardo; Berman, Sarah B.; Chhatwal, Jasmeer P.; Fagan, Anne; Farlow, Martin; O'Connor, Antoinette; Ghetti, Bernardino; Graff-Radford, Neill; Goldman, Jill; Gräber, Susanne; Karch, Celeste M.; Lee, Jae-Hong; Levin, Johannes; Martins, Ralph N.; Masters, Colin; Mori, Hiroshi; Noble, James; Salloway, Stephen; Schofield, Peter; Morris, John C.; Bateman, Randall J.; Hassenstab, Jason; Neurology, School of MedicineIntroduction: Although some members of families with autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease mutations learn their mutation status, most do not. How knowledge of mutation status affects clinical disease progression is unknown. This study quantifies the influence of mutation awareness on clinical symptoms, cognition, and biomarkers. Methods: Mutation carriers and non-carriers from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) were stratified based on knowledge of mutation status. Rates of change on standard clinical, cognitive, and neuroimaging outcomes were examined. Results: Mutation knowledge had no associations with cognitive decline, clinical progression, amyloid deposition, hippocampal volume, or depression in either carriers or non-carriers. Carriers who learned their status mid-study had slightly higher levels of depression and lower cognitive scores. Discussion: Knowledge of mutation status does not affect rates of change on any measured outcome. Learning of status mid-study may confer short-term changes in cognitive functioning, or changes in cognition may influence the determination of mutation status.Item Comparing amyloid-β plaque burden with antemortem PiB PET in autosomal dominant and late-onset Alzheimer disease(Springer, 2021) Chen, Charles D.; Joseph-Mathurin, Nelly; Sinha, Namita; Zhou, Aihong; Li, Yan; Friedrichsen, Karl; McCullough, Austin; Franklin, Erin E.; Hornbeck, Russ; Gordon, Brian; Sharma, Vijay; Cruchaga, Carlos; Goate, Alison; Karch, Celeste; McDade, Eric; Xiong, Chengjie; Bateman, Randall J.; Ghetti, Bernardino; Ringman, John M.; Chhatwal, Jasmeer; Masters, Colin L.; McLean, Catriona; Lashley, Tammaryn; Su, Yi; Koeppe, Robert; Jack, Clifford; Klunk, William E.; Morris, John C.; Perrin, Richard J.; Cairns, Nigel J.; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicinePittsburgh compound B (PiB) radiotracer for positron emission tomography (PET) imaging can bind to different types of amyloid-β plaques and blood vessels (cerebral amyloid angiopathy). However, the relative contributions of different plaque subtypes (diffuse versus cored/compact) to in vivo PiB PET signal on a region-by-region basis is incompletely understood. Of particular interest is whether the same staging schemes for summarizing amyloid-β burden are appropriate for both late-onset and autosomal dominant forms of Alzheimer disease (LOAD and ADAD). Here we compared antemortem PiB PET with follow-up postmortem estimation of amyloid-β burden using stereologic methods to estimate the relative area fraction of diffuse and cored/compact amyloid-β plaques across 16 brain regions in 15 individuals with ADAD and 14 individuals with LOAD. In ADAD, we found that PiB PET correlated with diffuse plaques in the frontal, parietal, temporal, and striatal regions commonly used to summarize amyloid-β burden in PiB PET, and correlated with both diffuse and cored/compact plaques in the occipital lobe and parahippocampal gyrus. In LOAD, we found that PiB PET correlated with both diffuse and cored/compact plaques in the anterior cingulate, frontal lobe (middle frontal gyrus), and parietal lobe, and showed additional correlations with diffuse plaque in the amygdala and occipital lobe, and with cored/compact plaque in the temporal lobe. Thus, commonly used PiB PET summary regions predominantly reflect diffuse plaque burden in ADAD and a mixture of diffuse and cored/compact plaque burden in LOAD. In direct comparisons of ADAD and LOAD, postmortem stereology identified much greater mean amyloid-β plaque burdens in ADAD versus LOAD across almost all brain regions studied. However, standard PiB PET did not recapitulate these stereologic findings, likely due to non-trivial amyloid-β plaque burdens in ADAD within the cerebellum and brainstem – commonly used reference regions in PiB PET. Our findings suggest that PiB PET summary regions correlate with amyloid-β plaque burden in both ADAD and LOAD; however, they might not be reliable in direct comparisons of regional amyloid-β plaque burden between the two forms of AD.Item Comparing cortical signatures of atrophy between late-onset and autosomal dominant Alzheimer disease(Elsevier, 2020) Dincer, Aylin; Gordon, Brian A.; Hari-Raj, Amrita; Keefe, Sarah J.; Flores, Shaney; McKay, Nicole S.; Paulick, Angela M.; Shady Lewis, Kristine E.; Feldman, Rebecca L.; Hornbeck, Russ C.; Allegri, Ricardo; Ances, Beau M.; Berman, Sarah B.; Brickman, Adam M.; Brooks, William S.; Cash, David M.; Chhatwal, Jasmeer P.; Farlow, Martin R.; la Fougère, Christian; Fox, Nick C.; Fulham, Michael J.; Jack, Clifford R., Jr.; Joseph-Mathurin, Nelly; Karch, Celeste M.; Lee, Athene; Levin, Johannes; Masters, Colin L.; McDade, Eric M.; Oh, Hwamee; Perrin, Richard J.; Raji, Cyrus; Salloway, Stephen P.; Schofield, Peter R.; Su, Yi; Villemagne, Victor L.; Wang, Qing; Weiner, Michael W.; Xiong, Chengjie; Yakushev, Igor; Morris, John C.; Bateman, Randall J.; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Neurology, School of MedicineDefining a signature of cortical regions of interest preferentially affected by Alzheimer disease (AD) pathology may offer improved sensitivity to early AD compared to hippocampal volume or mesial temporal lobe alone. Since late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) participants tend to have age-related comorbidities, the younger-onset age in autosomal dominant AD (ADAD) may provide a more idealized model of cortical thinning in AD. To test this, the goals of this study were to compare the degree of overlap between the ADAD and LOAD cortical thinning maps and to evaluate the ability of the ADAD cortical signature regions to predict early pathological changes in cognitively normal individuals. We defined and analyzed the LOAD cortical maps of cortical thickness in 588 participants from the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center (Knight ADRC) and the ADAD cortical maps in 269 participants from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) observational study. Both cohorts were divided into three groups: cognitively normal controls (nADRC = 381; nDIAN = 145), preclinical (nADRC = 153; nDIAN = 76), and cognitively impaired (nADRC = 54; nDIAN = 48). Both cohorts underwent clinical assessments, 3T MRI, and amyloid PET imaging with either 11C-Pittsburgh compound B or 18F-florbetapir. To generate cortical signature maps of cortical thickness, we performed a vertex-wise analysis between the cognitively normal controls and impaired groups within each cohort using six increasingly conservative statistical thresholds to determine significance. The optimal cortical map among the six statistical thresholds was determined from a receiver operating characteristic analysis testing the performance of each map in discriminating between the cognitively normal controls and preclinical groups. We then performed within-cohort and cross-cohort (e.g. ADAD maps evaluated in the Knight ADRC cohort) analyses to examine the sensitivity of the optimal cortical signature maps to the amyloid levels using only the cognitively normal individuals (cognitively normal controls and preclinical groups) in comparison to hippocampal volume. We found the optimal cortical signature maps were sensitive to early increases in amyloid for the asymptomatic individuals within their respective cohorts and were significant beyond the inclusion of hippocampus volume, but the cortical signature maps performed poorly when analyzing across cohorts. These results suggest the cortical signature maps are a useful MRI biomarker of early AD-related neurodegeneration in preclinical individuals and the pattern of decline differs between LOAD and ADAD.Item Comparison of Pittsburgh compound B and florbetapir in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies(Elsevier, 2019-02-22) Su, Yi; Flores, Shaney; Wang, Guoqiao; Hornbeck, Russ C.; Speidel, Benjamin; Joseph-Mathurin, Nelly; Vlassenko, Andrei G.; Gordon, Brian A.; Koeppe, Robert A.; Klunk, William E.; Clifford, R. Jack, Jr.; Farlow, Martin R.; Salloway, Stephen; Snider, Barbara J.; Berman, Sarah B.; Roberson, Erik D.; Broschi, Jared; Jimenez-Velazques, Ivonne; van Dyck, Christopher H.; Galasko, Douglas; Yuan, Shauna H.; Jayadev, Suman; Honig, Lawrence S.; Gauthier, Serge; Hsiung, Ging-Yuek R.; Masellis, Mario; Brooks, William S.; Fulham, Michael; Clarnette, Roger; Masters, Colin L.; Wallon, David; Hannequin, Didier; Dubois, Bruno; Pariente, Jeremie; Sanchez-Valle, Raquel; Mummery, Catherine; Ringman, John M.; Bottlaender, Michel; Klein, Gregory; Milosavljevic-Ristic, Smiljana; McDade, Eric; Xiong, Chengjie; Morris, John C.; Bateman, Randall J.; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Neurology, School of MedicineIntroduction: Quantitative in vivo measurement of brain amyloid burden is important for both research and clinical purposes. However, the existence of multiple imaging tracers presents challenges to the interpretation of such measurements. This study presents a direct comparison of Pittsburgh compound B-based and florbetapir-based amyloid imaging in the same participants from two independent cohorts using a crossover design. Methods: Pittsburgh compound B and florbetapir amyloid PET imaging data from three different cohorts were analyzed using previously established pipelines to obtain global amyloid burden measurements. These measurements were converted to the Centiloid scale to allow fair comparison between the two tracers. The mean and inter-individual variability of the two tracers were compared using multivariate linear models both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Results: Global amyloid burden measured using the two tracers were strongly correlated in both cohorts. However, higher variability was observed when florbetapir was used as the imaging tracer. The variability may be partially caused by white matter signal as partial volume correction reduces the variability and improves the correlations between the two tracers. Amyloid burden measured using both tracers was found to be in association with clinical and psychometric measurements. Longitudinal comparison of the two tracers was also performed in similar but separate cohorts whose baseline amyloid load was considered elevated (i.e., amyloid positive). No significant difference was detected in the average annualized rate of change measurements made with these two tracers. Discussion: Although the amyloid burden measurements were quite similar using these two tracers as expected, difference was observable even after conversion into the Centiloid scale. Further investigation is warranted to identify optimal strategies to harmonize amyloid imaging data acquired using different tracers.Item Effect of BDNFVal66Met on disease markers in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease(Wiley, 2018-09) Lim, Yen Ying; Hassenstab, Jason; Goate, Alison; Fagan, Anne M.; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Cruchaga, Carlos; McDade, Eric; Chhatwal, Jasmeer; Levin, Johannes; Farlow, Martin R.; GraffRadford, Neill R.; Laske, Christoph; Masters, Colin L; Salloway, Stephen; Schofield, Peter; Morris, John C.; Maruff, Paul; Bateman, Randall J.; Neurology, School of MedicineOBJECTIVE: Previous studies suggest that the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) Val66Met (rs6265) polymorphism may influence symptom onset in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Our recent cross-sectional findings suggest that Met66 may influence clinical expression in dominantly inherited AD (DIAD) through its effects on tau. However, it remains unclear whether carriage of Met66 in DIAD results in faster increases in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) tau and ptau181 , and whether these increases are associated with accelerated brain volume loss and memory decline. METHODS: A total of 211 subjects (101 mutation noncarriers, 110 mutation carriers), who were cognitively normal, as defined by a Clinical Dementia Rating global score of 0, completed assessments of cognitive function, neuroimaging, and CSF sampling over 3.5 years as part of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network. RESULTS: In mutation carriers, Met66 carriers showed faster memory decline (4×), hippocampal volume loss (16×), and CSF tau and ptau181 increases (6×) than Val66 homozygotes. BDNF did not influence rates of cortical β-amyloid accumulation or change in CSF Aβ42 levels in mutation carriers. In mutation noncarriers, BDNF genotype had no effect on change in cognition, brain volume, cortical β-amyloid accumulation, or change in any CSF measures of tau, ptau181 , and CSF Aβ42 . INTERPRETATION: As in sporadic AD, the deleterious effects of β-amyloid on cognitive function, brain volume loss, and CSF tau in DIAD mutation carriers are less in Val66 homozygotes. The BDNF Val66Met polymorphism should be considered as a potential moderator of clinical trial outcomes in current treatment and prevention trials in DIAD and sporadic AD. Ann Neurol 2018;84:424-435.Item Longitudinal Accumulation of Cerebral Microhemorrhages in Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Disease(American Academy of Neurology, 2021-03-23) Joseph-Mathurin, Nelly; Wang, Guoqiao; Kantarci, Kejal; Jack, Clifford R., Jr.; McDade, Eric; Hassenstab, Jason; Blazey, Tyler M.; Gordon, Brian A.; Su, Yi; Chen, Gengsheng; Massoumzadeh, Parinaz; Hornbeck, Russ C.; Allegri, Ricardo F.; Ances, Beau M.; Berman, Sarah B.; Brickman, Adam M.; Brooks, William S.; Cash, David M.; Chhatwal, Jasmeer P.; Chui, Helena C.; Correia, Stephen; Cruchaga, Carlos; Farlow, Martin R.; Fox, Nick C.; Fulham, Michael; Ghetti, Bernardino; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Johnson, Keith A.; Karch, Celeste M.; Laske, Christoph; Lee, Athene K.W.; Levin, Johannes; Masters, Colin L.; Noble, James M.; O’Connor, Antoinette; Perrin, Richard J.; Preboske, Gregory M.; Ringman, John M.; Rowe, Christopher C.; Salloway, Stephen; Saykin, Andrew J.; Schofield, Peter R.; Shimada, Hiroyuki; Shoji, Mikio; Suzuki, Kazushi; Villemagne, Victor L.; Xiong, Chengjie; Yakushev, Igor; Morris, John C.; Bateman, Randall J.; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicineObjective: To investigate the inherent clinical risks associated with the presence of cerebral microhemorrhages (CMHs) or cerebral microbleeds and characterize individuals at high risk for developing hemorrhagic amyloid-related imaging abnormality (ARIA-H), we longitudinally evaluated families with dominantly inherited Alzheimer disease (DIAD). Methods: Mutation carriers (n = 310) and noncarriers (n = 201) underwent neuroimaging, including gradient echo MRI sequences to detect CMHs, and neuropsychological and clinical assessments. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses evaluated relationships between CMHs and neuroimaging and clinical markers of disease. Results: Three percent of noncarriers and 8% of carriers developed CMHs primarily located in lobar areas. Carriers with CMHs were older, had higher diastolic blood pressure and Hachinski ischemic scores, and more clinical, cognitive, and motor impairments than those without CMHs. APOE ε4 status was not associated with the prevalence or incidence of CMHs. Prevalent or incident CMHs predicted faster change in Clinical Dementia Rating although not composite cognitive measure, cortical thickness, hippocampal volume, or white matter lesions. Critically, the presence of 2 or more CMHs was associated with a significant risk for development of additional CMHs over time (8.95 ± 10.04 per year). Conclusion: Our study highlights factors associated with the development of CMHs in individuals with DIAD. CMHs are a part of the underlying disease process in DIAD and are significantly associated with dementia. This highlights that in participants in treatment trials exposed to drugs, which carry the risk of ARIA-H as a complication, it may be challenging to separate natural incidence of CMHs from drug-related CMHs.Item Pattern and degree of individual brain atrophy predicts dementia onset in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease(Wiley, 2021-07-05) Keret, Ophir; Staffaroni, Adam M.; Ringman, John M.; Cobigo, Yann; Goh, Sheng-Yang M.; Wolf, Amy; Allen, Isabel Elaine; Salloway, Stephen; Chhatwal, Jasmeer; Brickman, Adam M.; Reyes-Dumeyer, Dolly; Bateman, Randal J.; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Morris, John C.; Ances, Beau M.; Joseph-Mathurin, Nelly; Perrin, Richard J.; Gordon, Brian A.; Levin, Johannes; Vöglein, Jonathan; Jucker, Mathias; la Fougère, Christian; Martins, Ralph N.; Sohrabi, Hamid R.; Taddei, Kevin; Villemagne, Victor L.; Schofield, Peter R.; Brooks, William S.; Fulham, Michael; Masters, Colin L.; Ghetti, Bernardino; Saykin, Andrew J.; Jack, Clifford R.; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Weiner, Michael; Cash, David M.; Allegri, Ricardo F.; Chrem, Patricio; Yi, Su; Miller, Bruce L.; Rabinovici, Gil D.; Rosen, Howard J.; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicineIntroduction: Asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease mutation carriers (DIAD-MC) are ideal candidates for preventative treatment trials aimed at delaying or preventing dementia onset. Brain atrophy is an early feature of DIAD-MC and could help predict risk for dementia during trial enrollment. Methods: We created a dementia risk score by entering standardized gray-matter volumes from 231 DIAD-MC into a logistic regression to classify participants with and without dementia. The score's predictive utility was assessed using Cox models and receiver operating curves on a separate group of 65 DIAD-MC followed longitudinally. Results: Our risk score separated asymptomatic versus demented DIAD-MC with 96.4% (standard error = 0.02) and predicted conversion to dementia at next visit (hazard ratio = 1.32, 95% confidence interval [CI: 1.15, 1.49]) and within 2 years (area under the curve = 90.3%, 95% CI [82.3%-98.2%]) and improved prediction beyond established methods based on familial age of onset. Discussion: Individualized risk scores based on brain atrophy could be useful for establishing enrollment criteria and stratifying DIAD-MC participants for prevention trials.Item White matter hyperintensities are a core feature of Alzheimer's disease: Evidence from the dominantly inherited Alzheimer network(Wiley, 2016-06) Lee, Seonjoo; Viqar, Fawad; Zimmerman, Molly E.; Narkhede, Atul; Tosto, Giuseppe; Benzinger, Tammie L.S.; Marcus, Daniel S.; Fagan, Anne M.; Goate, Alison; Fox, Nick C.; Cairns, Nigel J.; Holtzman, David M.; Buckles, Virginia; Ghetti, Bernardino; McDade, Eric; Martins, Ralph N.; Saykin, Andrew J.; Masters, Colin L.; Ringman, John M.; Ryan, Natalie S.; Förster, Stefan; Laske, Christoph; Schofield, Peter R.; Sperling, Reisa A.; Salloway, Stephen; Correia, Stephen; Jack, Clifford; Weiner, Michael; Bateman, Randall J.; Morris, John C.; Mayeux, Richard; Brickman, Adam M.; Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of MedicineWhite matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are areas of increased signal on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans that most commonly reflect small vessel cerebrovascular disease. Increased WMH volume is associated with risk and progression of Alzheimer's disease (AD). These observations are typically interpreted as evidence that vascular abnormalities play an additive, independent role contributing to symptom presentation, but not core features of AD. We examined the severity and distribution of WMH in presymptomatic PSEN1, PSEN2, and APP mutation carriers to determine the extent to which WMH manifest in individuals genetically determined to develop AD.