Neurovascular Health Insights: A Powerful Tool to Understand and Prognose Neurocognitive Decline

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Background

Age-related dementias are expected to impact negatively about 150 million people by 2050. Neurovascular health is deeply correlated with the onset of dementia symptoms and is critical in slowing down the impending public health problem of neurocognitive decline in an aging population. Neurovascular health offers insight into understanding most neurological diseases' cellular and molecular basis and prognosis. Improving neurovascular health by maintaining its healthy metabolic function appears particularly important, as cardiovascular changes and related impairments may affect the brain at the neurovascular level.

When the neurovascular unit (NVU) is damaged, neurovascular health is impaired, potentially leading to white matter changes, microinfarcts and hemorrhages, and large artery strokes causing cognitive decline.
As such it is important to maintain a healthy neurovascular system, particularly in the aging population subject to cognitive decline. Hyperglycaemic stress, for example, can impact the function of NVUs and cause inflammation, as well as an unbalance in cholesterol homeostasis. Cholesterol homeostasis is well known to be involved in maintaining the health of NVUs. Literature shows evidence that cholesterol homeostasis is essential in keeping stable levels associated with improved cognitive function in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) patients, as well as being associated with lower cognitive functions with a potential implication in dementia if unbalanced. Hence, it is not far-fetched to link neovascularization to neurocognition.

Neurovascularization may play a role in many cases of cognitive impairment, such as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). MCI is characterized by a decline in memory and/or other cognitive domain in the absence of delirium or another mental disorder and with relative preservation in daily functioning, leaving the door open for potential vascularization causes. There is a tendency for reversibility in MCI as well as the progression to a major neurocognitive disorder such as dementia.

Major Neurocognitive Disorder on the other hand, is marked by a significant acquired decline from a previously attained level in one or more cognitive domains, learning, and memory, language, complex attention, executive function, perceptual–motor function, and social cognition; in the absence of delirium and other mental disorder and accompanied by a loss of independence in daily functioning. Major cognitive disorders are age-related, but MCI is situational and can manifest in all age groups. In all these states, neurovascularization cannot be left out.

The aim of this Research Topic is to gather further insight into the link between the progression of neurocognition and its relationship with cerebrovascular conditions.

To address this biological question, considering neural, genetic, and, psychosocial influences, we welcome submissions covering the following but not limited to:

• Clinical Assessments of neurocognitive disorders associated with forms of cerebrovascular diseases, considering in particular NVU dysfunctioning and metabolic changes negatively impacting NV functioning.
• Changes in quantitatively measured neurocognition and its association with cardiometabolic risks in the aging population
• Evidence to support the link between metabolic control and cardiovascular changes which in itself may affect the brain at a neurovascular level
• In vivo and in vitro studies on rodent models for AD modeling and to assess the link with neovascularization
• Association of maternal cardiometabolic risk factors on late-life cognition
• Evidence from human-based longitudinal studies correlating neurocognitive disorders to dementia and AD: behavioral and neurobiological findings
• Studies identifying neuroimaging and/or plasma biomarkers that correlate with NVU dysfunction and vascular contributions to cognitive impairment

Keywords: neurocognitive, age, dementia, AD, neurovascular health, cognition, behavior, early-onset, plasma bionarkers, neuroimaging

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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