[Rheoencephalography in memory evaluation of patients with vascular pathology of the brain]

In patients with cerebrovascular pathology, the interrelation between the cerebral hemodynamic parameters (determined by the method of rheoencephalography) and memory for current events (determined by special physiological tests) were examined. The data obtained showed that the deterioration of the memory for current events depended not so much on the poorer vascular elasticity, as on a diminution of their blood content, i. e. on brain blood supply deterioration. A direct relationship between the degree of this deterioration and the cerebrovascular insufficiency caused by it, on the one hand, and the degree of the memory deterioration, on the other, was observed. These findings explain to a certain degree the observed disagreement between the pathomorphological changes of the cerebral vessels and the psychopathological impairments (degree of dementia) in patients with cerebrovascular pathology. They underline the diagnostic importance of rheoencephalography and open further prospects in evaluation of brain functions on the basis of rheoencephalographic findings.