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Key Neuroanatomical Structures for Post-Stroke Cognitive Impairment

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Abstract

The neuroanatomical substrate of vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) has traditionally included the subcortex of the brain, especially sub-frontal white matter circuits, strategic areas of single infarction that may mediate cognitive impairment such as the dominant thalamus or angular gyrus, and the left hemisphere, and bilateral brain infarcts or volume-driven cortical-subcortical infarctions reaching a critical threshold of tissue loss or injury. We provide an update on the neuroanatomical substrates of VCI and emphasize the following structures or areas: (1) new concepts in relation to hippocampal involvement in VCI based on neuropathological and MRI studies of microinfarcts and the role of traditional cardiovascular risk factors in possibly mediating or potentiating cognitive impairment; (2) advances in our understanding of cerebral microbleeds; and (3) an update on white matter hyperintensities and small vessel disease.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago, 912 S. Wood Street Room 855 N, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA

    Rebecca Grysiewicz

  2. Hauenstein Neurosciences Center, Saint Mary’s Health Care, 220 Cherry Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI, 49503, USA

    Philip B. Gorelick

Authors
  1. Rebecca Grysiewicz
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  2. Philip B. Gorelick
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Correspondence to Rebecca Grysiewicz.

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Grysiewicz, R., Gorelick, P.B. Key Neuroanatomical Structures for Post-Stroke Cognitive Impairment. Curr Neurol Neurosci Rep 12, 703–708 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-012-0315-2

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