Fardeau vasculaire, cognition et vieillissement

Abstract

There is increasing evidence for an overlap between the different forms of dementia, in particular dementia of the Alzheimer type and vascular dementia. For example, it is now well established that vascular risk factors are associated with more important cognitive decline in older adults and that they increase their risk of developing not only vascular dementia but Alzheimer's disease as well. Little is known regarding the relation between vascular burden and cognition in persons meeting criteria for mild cognitive impairment. The goal of this article is to present and summarize studies that have examined those issues. Cognitive functions in persons with mild cognitive impairment will be examined as a function of their vascular burden expressed clinically by measuring the number of vascular diseases and risk factors and, expressed neuro-radiologically by measuring the presence and severity of subcortical white matter changes with structural magnetic resonance. We will overview data examining the effect of vascular burden on executive functions, episodic memory and on neuropsychiatric symptoms. This article will also propose a new approach where patients are not distinguished as a function of clinical criteria but rather, as a function of their brain anomalies measured with in vivo brain imaging techniques. Preliminary findings in support of this approach will be presented. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)(journal abstract)