Microvascular contributions to age-related cognitive decline

Whit: Zoltan Ungvari, M.D. Ph.D., Professor & Donald W. Reynolds Chair of Aging Research at the Department of Geriatric medicine and the Department of Physiology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

A range of microvascular pathologies connected to aging contribute to cognitive impairment. In particular, aging impairs the increase in cerebral blood flow triggered by neural activation, called neurovascular coupling, and increases the prevalence of multifocal cerebral microhemorrhages (CMHs), which are thought to progressively impair neuronal function. We will discuss new preclinical findings regarding therapeutic targets to recover neurovascular coupling and prevent CMHs, together with the age-related mechanisms behind their pathogenesis.