Abstract #3186

Amyloid- β Associations with White Matter Integrity in Down Syndrome Assessed Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging and 11C-PiB Positron Emission Tomography

Austin Patrick¹, Minjie Wu², Patrick Lao³, Douglas Dean¹, Matthew Zammitt¹, Sterling Johnson¹, Dana Tudorascu², Annie Cohen², Karly Cody¹, Charles Laymon², William Klunk², Shahid Zaman⁴, Benjamin Handen², Andrew Alexander¹, and Bradley Christian¹

¹University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ²University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States, ³Columbia University, New York, NY, United States, ⁴University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom

Nearly all people with Down Syndrome will develop Alzheimer’s Dementia neuropathology by age 50, often asymptomatically. In this work, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) was used to characterize white matter (WM) tract microstructure in thirty-three non-demented participants with Down Syndrome. Amyloid plaque burden was assessed using PET imaging with C-11 PiB. DTI measures were used to compare WM microstructure in DS individuals with high amyloid burden (PiB+) versus individuals with low amyloid burden (PIB-). PIB+ adults demonstrated significantly increased mean diffusivity and decreased fractional anisotropy in several bilateral WM regions. These findings are consistent of signs of WM degeneration.

This abstract and the presentation materials are available to members only; a login is required.

Join Here