White matter hyperintensities in Down syndrome: associations with demographic, genetic, fluid and imaging biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease

Strong associations between age, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and vascular risk factors create challenges to delineate the specific relationships between white matter hyperintensities (WMH) and AD pathophysiology. Down syndrome (DS), a genetically determined form of AD, is not typically complicated by systematic vascular risk factors like hypertension and atherosclerosis and can therefore provide critical information in this regard. We aim to further characterize topography of WMH in DS along the AD continuum and define associations with demographic, genetic, fluid and other imaging biomarkers.