Lott, Ira T MD

(RELEVANCE) Individuals with Down syndrome have a high risk for Alzheimer's disease, but little is known about the biomarkers that characterize disease onset and progression or why some individuals develop dementia much earlier than others. This study focuses on a multidisciplinary determination of key risk as well as protective biomarkers that are likely to affect AD progression, including blood-based, CSF-based and imaging-based biomarkers, and polymorphisms in AD-related genes. Study of biomarkers for early dementia changes may yield critical data documenting the transition from normal aging to mild cognitive impairment to clinical dementia in individuals with DS. This can provide key insights into the pathways involved in AD progression and may allow for future therapeutic interventions before irreversible cognitive deterioration has occurred.