Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Mar;36(2):281-8.
doi: 10.1007/s10571-016-0334-7. Epub 2016 Apr 19.

The Science of Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (VCID): A Framework for Advancing Research Priorities in the Cerebrovascular Biology of Cognitive Decline

Roderick A Corriveau  1 , Francesca Bosetti  2 , Marian Emr  2 , Jordan T Gladman  2 , James I Koenig  2 , Claudia S Moy  2 , Katherine Pahigiannis  2 , Salina P Waddy  2 , Walter Koroshetz  2
Affiliations
Review

The Science of Vascular Contributions to Cognitive Impairment and Dementia (VCID): A Framework for Advancing Research Priorities in the Cerebrovascular Biology of Cognitive Decline

Roderick A Corriveau et al. Cell Mol Neurobiol. 2016 Mar.

Abstract

The World Health Organization reports that 47.5 million people are affected by dementia worldwide. With aging populations and 7.7 million new cases each year, the burden of illness due to dementia approaches crisis proportions. Despite significant advances in our understanding of the biology of Alzheimer's disease (AD), the leading dementia diagnosis, the actual causes of dementia in affected individuals are unknown except for rare fully penetrant genetic forms. Evidence from epidemiology and pathology studies indicates that damage to the vascular system is associated with an increased risk of many types of dementia. Both Alzheimer's pathology and cerebrovascular disease increase with age. How AD affects small blood vessel function and how vascular dysfunction contributes to the molecular pathology of Alzheimer's are areas of intense research. The science of vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) integrates diverse aspects of biology and incorporates the roles of multiple cell types that support the function of neural tissue. Because of the proven ability to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease and hypertension with population benefits for heart and stroke outcomes, it is proposed that understanding and targeting the biological mechanisms of VCID can have a similarly positive impact on public health.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; Cardiovascular; Cerebrovascular; Vascular cognitive impairment, VCI; Vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia, VCID; Vascular dementia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The science of vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) includes many and diverse vascular diagnoses and conditions, a number of which are represented here. Clinical outcomes range from cognitive impairment (top left) to dementia (bottom left), and cognitive outcomes associated with vascular disease vary not only with the amount and type of injury, but also due to other contributing factors such anatomical location, comorbidities, and many other factors. Cognitive impairment may be associated with small vessel insults and limited brain comorbidities, and can be recognized as vascular cognitive impairment (VCI), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), or may go undetected. Dementia may be associated with larger vascular insults (small vessel disease is also typically present), especially in the presence of significant brain comorbidities such as beta-amyloid, tauopathy, TDP-43-opathy, and Lewy bodies/alpha-synuclein
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
VCID science overlays relevant diagnoses and conditions including cognitive decline and dementia, AD, cardio- and cerebrovascular disorders (CVD), and stroke. This schematic represents relationships among VCID and the indicated clinical conditions (CVD, stroke, cognitive decline and dementia, AD) in living persons, and does not represent pathologic outcomes
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
VCID is interdisciplinary in nature, with the neurovascular unit impacted by the biology of Alzheimer’s disease, stroke, metabolism, and immune function. An integrated multidisciplinary approach is required to gain an understanding of the mechanistic relationships between vascular biology and cognitive outcomes
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Attems J, Jellinger KA (2014) The overlap between vascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease–lessons from pathology. BMC Med 12:206. doi:10.1186/s12916-014-0206-2 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bangen KJ, Nation DA, Delano-Wood L, Weissberger GH, Hansen LA, Galasko DR, Salmon DP, Bondi MW (2015) Aggregate effects of vascular risk factors on cerebrovascular changes in autopsy-confirmed Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s Dement 11(4):394–403 e391. doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2013.12.025 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Battistin L, Cagnin A (2010) Vascular cognitive disorder. A biological and clinical overview. Neurochem Res 35(12):1933–1938. doi:10.1007/s11064-010-0346-5 - PubMed
    1. Baumgart M, Snyder HM, Carrillo MC, Fazio S, Kim H, Johns H (2015) Summary of the evidence on modifiable risk factors for cognitive decline and dementia: a population-based perspective. Alzheimer’s Dement 11(6):718–726. doi:10.1016/j.jalz.2015.05.016 - PubMed
    1. Bischof GN, Park DC (2015) Obesity and aging: consequences for cognition, brain structure, and brain function. Psychosom Med 77(6):697–709. doi:10.1097/PSY.0000000000000212 - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources