A role of cerebral microvascular disturbance in dementia

Abstract

Cerebral small vessels have a pivotal role in maintaining exchange of energy and metabolites in the brain. Hypertension and amyloid β deposition may affect these small vessels, resulting in hypertensive small vessel disease and cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), respectively, and are collectively related to the pathogenesis of microvascular lesions and dementing illness. This review focuses on the significance of cerebral microvascular lesions in cognitive impairment, and further, the relationship between cerebral microcirculation disturbance and perturbation of amyloid β clearance in Alzheimer's disease.