Progressive Slowing of the Cerebrovascular Response in the Temporal and Parietal Cortex of Patients with Alzheimer's Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment

There is accumulating evidence that neurovascular dysfunction plays a major role in Alzheimerâ s disease (AD). Recent investigations now suggest that cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) is impaired in AD and may underpin part of the neurovascular contribution. However, our understanding of the relationship between the magnitude of CVR, the speed of cerebrovascular response, and the progression of AD is still limited. This is especially true in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), which is recognized as the prodromal stage of AD. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate AD and MCI patients using new repeatable and accurate measures of cerebrovascular function, namely the magnitude and speed of vascular response to a vasoactive stimulus. The findings of this thesis demonstrate that AD is associated with a progressive slowing of the cerebrovascular response in proportion to the progression of the disease.M.Sc