Cerebral infarcts and cognitive performance: importance of location and number of infarcts

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cerebral infarcts increase the risk for cognitive impairment. The relevance of location and number of infarcts with respect to cognitive function is less clear. METHODS: We studied the cross-sectional association between number and location of infarcts and cognitive performan...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Stroke
Main Authors: Saczynski, Jane S., Sigurdsson, Sigurdur, Jonsdottir, Maria K., Eiriksdottir, Gudny, Jonsson, Palmi V., Garcia, Melissa E., Kjartansson, Olafur, Lopez, Oscar, van Buchem, Mark A., Gudnason, Vilmundur, Launer, Lenore J.
Other Authors: Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatric Medicine
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Aged
Cardiovascular Diseases
Cerebral Infarction
Cognition Disorders
Dementia
Female
Humans
Iceland
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Neuropsychological Tests
Risk Factors
Life Sciences
Medicine and Health Sciences
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1161/STROKEAHA.108.530212
https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/39420
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/2215
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Summary:BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cerebral infarcts increase the risk for cognitive impairment. The relevance of location and number of infarcts with respect to cognitive function is less clear. METHODS: We studied the cross-sectional association between number and location of infarcts and cognitive performance in 4030 nondemented participants of the Age Gene/Environment Susceptibility-Reykjavik Study. Composite scores for memory, processing speed, and executive function were created from a neuropsychological battery. Subcortical, cortical, and cerebellar infarcts were identified on brain MRI. We performed linear regression analyses adjusted for demographic and vascular risk factors, depression, white matter lesions, and atrophy. RESULTS: Compared to participants with no infarcts, those with infarcts in multiple locations (n=287, 7%) had slower processing speed (beta=-0.19; PCONCLUSIONS: Having infarcts in >1 location is associated with poor performance in memory, processing speed, and executive function, independent of cardiovascular comorbidities, white matter lesions, and brain atrophy, suggesting that both the number and the distribution of infarcts jointly contribute to cognitive impairment.

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