Browsing by Author "Laske, Christoph"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    BDNF Val66Met moderates memory impairment, hippocampal function and tau in preclinical autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease
    (Oxford, 2016-10) Lim, Yen Ying; Hassenstab, Jason; Cruchaga, Carlos; Goate, Alison; Fagan, Anne M.; Benzinger, Tammie L. S.; Maruff, Paul; Snyder, Peter J.; Masters, Colin L.; Allegri, Ricardo; Chhatwal, Jasmeer; Farlow, Martin R.; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Laske, Christoph; Levin, Johannes; McDade, Eric; Ringman, John M.; Rossor, Martin N.; Salloway, Stephen; Schofield, Peter R.; Holtzman, David M.; Morris, John C.; Bateman, Randall J.; Department of Neurology, IU School of Medicine
    The brain-derived neurotrophic factor ( BDNF ) Val66Met polymorphism is implicated in synaptic excitation and neuronal integrity, and has previously been shown to moderate amyloid-β-related memory decline and hippocampal atrophy in preclinical sporadic Alzheimer’s disease. However, the effect of BDNF in autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease is unknown. We aimed to determine the effect of BDNF Val66Met on cognitive function, hippocampal function, tau and amyloid-β in preclinical autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease. We explored effects of apolipoprotein E ( APOE ) ε4 on these relationships. The Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network conducted clinical, neuropsychological, genetic, biomarker and neuroimaging measures at baseline in 131 mutation non-carriers and 143 preclinical autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease mutation carriers on average 12 years before clinical symptom onset. BDNF genotype data were obtained for mutation carriers (95 Val 66 homozygotes, 48 Met 66 carriers). Among preclinical mutation carriers, Met 66 carriers had worse memory performance, lower hippocampal glucose metabolism and increased levels of cerebrospinal fluid tau and phosphorylated tau (p-tau) than Val 66 homozygotes. Cortical amyloid-β and cerebrospinal fluid amyloid-β 42 levels were significantly different from non-carriers but did not differ between preclinical mutation carrier Val 66 homozygotes and Met 66 carriers. There was an effect of APOE on amyloid-β levels, but not cognitive function, glucose metabolism or tau. As in sporadic Alzheimer’s disease, the deleterious effects of amyloid-β on memory, hippocampal function, and tau in preclinical autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease mutation carriers are greater in Met 66 carriers. To date, this is the only genetic factor found to moderate downstream effects of amyloid-β in autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Decreased body mass index in the preclinical stage of autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease
    (SpringerNature, 2017-04-27) Müller, Stephan; Preische, Oliver; Sohrabi, Hamid R.; Gräber, Susanne; Jucker, Mathias; Dietzsch, Janko; Ringman, Ralph N.; Martins, Ralph N.; McDade, Eric; Schofield, Peter R.; Ghetti, Bernardino; Rossor, Martin; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Levin, Johannes; Galasko, Douglas; Quaid, Kimberly A.; Salloway, Stephen; Xiong, Chengjie; Benzinger, Tammie; Buckles, Virginia; Masters, Colin L.; Sperling, Reisa; Bateman, Randall J.; Morris, John C.; Laske, Christoph; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine
    The relationship between body-mass index (BMI) and Alzheimer´s disease (AD) has been extensively investigated. However, BMI alterations in preclinical individuals with autosomal dominant AD (ADAD) have not yet been investigated. We analyzed cross-sectional data from 230 asymptomatic members of families with ADAD participating in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN) study including 120 preclinical mutation carriers (MCs) and 110 asymptomatic non-carriers (NCs). Differences in BMI and their relation with cerebral amyloid load and episodic memory as a function of estimated years to symptom onset (EYO) were analyzed. Preclinical MCs showed significantly lower BMIs compared to NCs, starting 11.2 years before expected symptom onset. However, the BMI curves begun to diverge already at 17.8 years before expected symptom onset. Lower BMI in preclinical MCs was significantly associated with less years before estimated symptom onset, higher global Aβ brain burden, and with lower delayed total recall scores in the logical memory test. The study provides cross-sectional evidence that weight loss starts one to two decades before expected symptom onset of ADAD. Our findings point toward a link between the pathophysiology of ADAD and disturbance of weight control mechanisms. Longitudinal follow-up studies are warranted to investigate BMI changes over time.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Diagnostic Value of Subjective Memory Complaints Assessed with a Single Item in Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer’s Disease: Results of the DIAN Study
    (Hindawi, 2015) Laske, Christoph; Sohrabi, Hamid R.; Jasielec, Mateusz S.; Müller, Stephan; Koehler, Niklas K.; Gräber, Susanne; Förster, Stefan; Drzezga, Alexander; Mueller-Sarnowski, Felix; Danek, Adrian; Jucker, Mathias; Bateman, Randall J.; Buckles, Virginia; Saykin, Andrew J.; Martins, Ralph N.; Morris, John C.; Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center, Indiana University School of Medicine
    Objective. We examined the diagnostic value of subjective memory complaints (SMCs) assessed with a single item in a large cross-sectional cohort consisting of families with autosomal dominant Alzheimer’s disease (ADAD) participating in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network (DIAN). Methods. The baseline sample of 183 mutation carriers (MCs) and 117 noncarriers (NCs) was divided according to Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale into preclinical (CDR 0; MCs: ; NCs: ), early symptomatic (CDR 0.5; MCs: ; NCs: ), and dementia stage (CDR ≥ 1; MCs: ; NCs: ). These groups were subdivided by the presence or absence of SMCs. Results. At CDR 0, SMCs were present in 12.1% of MCs and 9.2% of NCs . At CDR 0.5, SMCs were present in 66.7% of MCs and 62.5% of NCs . At CDR ≥ 1, SMCs were present in 96.4% of MCs. SMCs in MCs were significantly associated with CDR, logical memory scores, Geriatric Depression Scale, education, and estimated years to onset. Conclusions. The present study shows that SMCs assessed by a single-item scale have no diagnostic value to identify preclinical ADAD in asymptomatic individuals. These results demonstrate the need of further improvement of SMC measures that should be examined in large clinical trials.
  • Thumbnail Image
    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 Medicine
    OBJECTIVE: 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.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Guidelines for the standardization of preanalytic variables for blood-based biomarker studies in Alzheimer's disease research
    (Elsevier, 2015-05) O’Bryant, Sid E.; Gupta, Veer; Henriksen, Kim; Edwards, Melissa; Jeromin, Andreas; Lista, Simone; Bazenet, Chantal; Soares, Holly; Lovestone, Simon; Hampel, Harald; Montine, Thomas; Blennow, Kaj; Foroud, Tatiana; Carrillo, Maria; Graff-Radford, Neill; Laske, Christoph; Breteler, Monique; Shaw, Leslie; Trojanowski, John Q.; Schupf, Nicole; Rissman, Robert A.; Fagan, Anne M.; Oberoi, Pankaj; Umek, Robert; Weiner, Michael W.; Grammas, Paul; Posner, Holly; Martins, Ralph; Department of Medical & Molecular Genetics, IU School of Medicine
    The lack of readily available biomarkers is a significant hindrance towards progressing to effective therapeutic and preventative strategies for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Blood-based biomarkers have potential to overcome access and cost barriers and greatly facilitate advanced neuroimaging and cerebrospinal fluid biomarker approaches. Despite the fact that preanalytical processing is the largest source of variability in laboratory testing, there are no currently available standardized preanalytical guidelines. The current international working group provides the initial starting point for such guidelines for standardized operating procedures (SOPs). It is anticipated that these guidelines will be updated as additional research findings become available. The statement provides (1) a synopsis of selected preanalytical methods utilized in many international AD cohort studies, (2) initial draft guidelines/SOPs for preanalytical methods, and (3) a list of required methodological information and protocols to be made available for publications in the field in order to foster cross-validation across cohorts and laboratories.
  • Thumbnail Image
    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 Medicine
    Objective: 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.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Preferential degradation of cognitive networks differentiates Alzheimer's disease from ageing
    (Oxford University Press, 2018-05-01) Chhatwal, Jasmeer P.; Schultz, Aaron P.; Johnson, Keith A.; Hedden, Trey; Jaimes, Sehily; Benzinger, Tammie L S.; Jack, Clifford; Ances, Beau M.; Ringman, John M.; Marcus, Daniel S.; Ghetti, Bernardino; Farlow, Martin R.; Danek, Adrian; Levin, Johannes; Yakushev, Igor; Laske, Christoph; Koeppe, Robert A.; Galasko, Douglas R.; Xiong, Chengjie; Masters, Colin L.; Schofield, Peter R.; Kinnunen, Kirsi M.; Salloway, Stephen; Martins, Ralph N.; McDade, Eric; Cairns, Nigel J.; Buckles, Virginia D.; Morris, John C.; Bateman, Randall; Sperling, Reisa A.; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine
    Converging evidence from structural, metabolic and functional connectivity MRI suggests that neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, target specific neural networks. However, age-related network changes commonly co-occur with neuropathological cascades, limiting efforts to disentangle disease-specific alterations in network function from those associated with normal ageing. Here we elucidate the differential effects of ageing and Alzheimer's disease pathology through simultaneous analyses of two functional connectivity MRI datasets: (i) young participants harbouring highly-penetrant mutations leading to autosomal-dominant Alzheimer's disease from the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Network (DIAN), an Alzheimer's disease cohort in which age-related comorbidities are minimal and likelihood of progression along an Alzheimer's disease trajectory is extremely high; and (ii) young and elderly participants from the Harvard Aging Brain Study, a cohort in which imaging biomarkers of amyloid burden and neurodegeneration can be used to disambiguate ageing alone from preclinical Alzheimer's disease. Consonant with prior reports, we observed the preferential degradation of cognitive (especially the default and dorsal attention networks) over motor and sensory networks in early autosomal-dominant Alzheimer's disease, and found that this distinctive degradation pattern was magnified in more advanced stages of disease. Importantly, a nascent form of the pattern observed across the autosomal-dominant Alzheimer's disease spectrum was also detectable in clinically normal elderly with clear biomarker evidence of Alzheimer's disease pathology (preclinical Alzheimer's disease). At the more granular level of individual connections between node pairs, we observed that connections within cognitive networks were preferentially targeted in Alzheimer's disease (with between network connections relatively spared), and that connections between positively coupled nodes (correlations) were preferentially degraded as compared to connections between negatively coupled nodes (anti-correlations). In contrast, ageing in the absence of Alzheimer's disease biomarkers was characterized by a far less network-specific degradation across cognitive and sensory networks, of between- and within-network connections, and of connections between positively and negatively coupled nodes. We go on to demonstrate that formalizing the differential patterns of network degradation in ageing and Alzheimer's disease may have the practical benefit of yielding connectivity measurements that highlight early Alzheimer's disease-related connectivity changes over those due to age-related processes. Together, the contrasting patterns of connectivity in Alzheimer's disease and ageing add to prior work arguing against Alzheimer's disease as a form of accelerated ageing, and suggest multi-network composite functional connectivity MRI metrics may be useful in the detection of early Alzheimer's disease-specific alterations co-occurring with age-related connectivity changes. More broadly, our findings are consistent with a specific pattern of network degradation associated with the spreading of Alzheimer's disease pathology within targeted neural networks.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Seizures as an early symptom of autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease
    (Elsevier, 2019-04) Vöglein, Jonathan; Noachtar, Soheyl; McDade, Eric; Quaid, Kimberly A.; Salloway, Stephen; Ghetti, Bernardino; Noble, James; Berman, Sarah; Chhatwal, Jasmeer; Mori, Hiroshi; Fox, Nick; Allegri, Ricardo; Masters, Colin L.; Buckles, Virginia; Ringman, John M.; Rossor, Martin; Schofield, Peter R.; Sperling, Reisa; Jucker, Mathias; Laske, Christoph; Paumier, Katrina; Morris, John C.; Bateman, Randall J.; Levin, Johannes; Danek, Adrian; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Our objective was to assess the reported history of seizures in cognitively asymptomatic mutation carriers for autosomal dominant Alzheimer's disease (ADAD) and the predictive value of seizures for mutation carrier status in cognitively asymptomatic first-degree relatives of ADAD patients. Seizure occurrence in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network observational study was correlated with mutation carrier status in cognitively asymptomatic subjects. Of 276 cognitively asymptomatic individuals, 11 (4%) had experienced seizures, and nine of these carried an ADAD mutation. Thus, in the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network population, seizure frequency in mutation carriers was significantly higher than in noncarriers (p = 0.04), and the positive predictive value of seizures for the presence of a pathogenic mutation was 81.8%. Among cognitively asymptomatic ADAD family members, the occurrence of seizures increases the a priori risk of 50% mutation-positive status to about 80%. This finding suggests that ADAD mutations increase the risk of seizures.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Serum neurofilament dynamics predicts neurodegeneration and clinical progression in presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease
    (Nature Research, 2019-02) Preische, Oliver; Schultz, Stephanie A.; Apel, Anja; Kuhle, Jens; Kaeser, Stephan A.; Barro, Christian; Gräber, Susanne; Kuder-Buletta, Elke; LaFougere, Christian; Laske, Christoph; Vöglein, Jonathan; Levin, Johannes; Masters, Colin L.; Martins, Ralph; Schofield, Peter R.; Rossor, Martin N.; Graff-Radford, Neill R.; Salloway, Stephen; Ghetti, Bernardino; Ringman, John M.; Noble, James M.; Chhatwal, Jasmeer; Goate, Alison M.; Benzinger, Tammie L. S.; Morris, John C.; Bateman, Randall J.; Wang, Guoqiao; Fagan, Anne M.; McDade, Eric M.; Gordon, Brian A.; Jucker, Mathias; Alzheimer Network; Allegri, Ricardo; Amtashar, Fatima; Bateman, Randall; Benzinger, Tammie; Berman, Sarah; Bodge, Courtney; Brandon, Susan; Brooks, William; Buck, Jill; Buckles, Virginia; Chea, Sochenda; Chhatwal, Jasmeer; Chrem, Patricio; Chui, Helena; Cinco, Jake; Clifford, Jack; Cruchaga, Carlos; D’Mello, Mirelle; Donahue, Tamara; Douglas, Jane; Edigo, Noelia; Erekin-Taner, Nilufer; Fagan, Anne; Farlow, Marty; Farrar, Angela; Feldman, Howard; Flynn, Gigi; Fox, Nick; Franklin, Erin; Fujii, Hisako; Gant, Cortaiga; Gardener, Samantha; Ghetti, Bernardino; Goate, Alison; Goldman, Jill; Gordon, Brian; Graff-Radford, Neill; Gray, Julia; Gurney, Jenny; Hassenstab, Jason; Hirohara, Mie; Holtzman, David; Hornbeck, Russ; DiBari, Siri Houeland; Ikeuchi, Takeshi; Ikonomovic, Snezana; Jerome, Gina; Jucker, Mathias; Karch, Celeste; Kasuga, Kensaku; Kawarabayashi, Takeshi; Klunk, William; Koeppe, Robert; Kuder-Buletta, Elke; Laske, Christoph; Lee, Jae-Hong; Levin, Johannes; Marcus, Daniel; Martins, Ralph; Mason, Neal Scott; Masters, Colin; Maue-Dreyfus, Denise; McDade, Eric; Montoya, Lucy; Mori, Hiroshi; Morris, John; Nagamatsu, Akem; Neimeyer, Katie; Noble, James; Norton, Joanne; Perrin, Richard; Raichle, Marc; Ringman, John; Roh, Jee Hoon; Salloway, Stephen; Schofield, Peter; Shimada, Hiroyuki; Shiroto, Tomoyo; Shoji, Mikio; Sigurdson, Wendy; Sohrabi, Hamid; Sparks, Paige; Suzuki, Kazushi; Swisher, Laura; Taddei, Kevin; Wang, Jen; Wang, Peter; Weiner, Mike; Wolfsberger, Mary; Xiong, Chengjie; Xu, Xiong; Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine
    Neurofilament light chain (NfL) is a promising fluid biomarker of disease progression for various cerebral proteopathies. Here we leverage the unique characteristics of the Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network and ultrasensitive immunoassay technology to demonstrate that NfL levels in the cerebrospinal fluid (n = 187) and serum (n = 405) are correlated with one another and are elevated at the presymptomatic stages of familial Alzheimer's disease. Longitudinal, within-person analysis of serum NfL dynamics (n = 196) confirmed this elevation and further revealed that the rate of change of serum NfL could discriminate mutation carriers from non-mutation carriers almost a decade earlier than cross-sectional absolute NfL levels (that is, 16.2 versus 6.8 years before the estimated symptom onset). Serum NfL rate of change peaked in participants converting from the presymptomatic to the symptomatic stage and was associated with cortical thinning assessed by magnetic resonance imaging, but less so with amyloid-β deposition or glucose metabolism (assessed by positron emission tomography). Serum NfL was predictive for both the rate of cortical thinning and cognitive changes assessed by the Mini-Mental State Examination and Logical Memory test. Thus, NfL dynamics in serum predict disease progression and brain neurodegeneration at the early presymptomatic stages of familial Alzheimer's disease, which supports its potential utility as a clinically useful biomarker.
  • Thumbnail Image
    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 Medicine
    White 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.