Arterial stiffness was associated with beta amyloid plaque formation in the brains of elderly people with no signs of dementia, and the association was independent of blood pressure and antihypertensive drug treatment, researchers reported. People who showed evidence of both amyloid plaques and lesions known as white matter hyperintensities on brain imaging had the most arterial stiffness, Timothy M. Hughes, PhD, and colleagues from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Virginia wrote in the Oct. 16 online issue of the journal Neurology.