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Progressive morphometric and cognitive changes in vascular dementia

John Gunstad1, Adam M Brickman, Robert H Paul

  • 1Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Brown Medical School, Miriam Hospital, Coro West-Third Floor, 1 Hoppin St., Providence RI 02903, USA. JGunstad@Lifespan.org

Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology : the Official Journal of the National Academy of Neuropsychologists
|February 15, 2005
PubMed

Insights

Vascular dementia (VaD) patients showed cognitive decline over 12 months, but this was not linked to brain volume changes. Subtypes of VaD may have different cognitive decline rates.

Area of Science:

  • Neurology
  • Neuroimaging
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Evidence for progressive cognitive decline in vascular dementia (VaD) is inconsistent.
  • Pathological heterogeneity within VaD may explain differing cognitive decline patterns.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate cognitive decline in a heterogeneous VaD group over 12 months.
  • To explore the relationship between cognitive decline and morphometric changes.
  • To examine if VaD subtypes exhibit differential cognitive decline.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed cognitive function and morphometric changes (subcortical hyperintensities (SH), whole brain volume (WBV)) at baseline and 12-month follow-up.
  • Compared cognitive decline across different VaD subtypes.

Main Results:

  • The heterogeneous VaD group showed cognitive decline from baseline to 12 months.
  • No significant relationship was found between cognitive decline and morphometric changes (SH, WBV).
  • VaD patients with subcortical infarct or SH-only demonstrated greater cognitive decline compared to those with cortical lesions.

Conclusions:

  • Cognitive decline occurs in heterogeneous VaD populations.
  • Differential lesion distribution in VaD subtypes may influence the rate of cognitive decline.
  • Further research is required to validate these subtype-specific findings.

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