New in JNeurosci , Xia Zhang, from the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, led a study exploring the relationship between heart issues and cognitive function.
The researchers tracked 73 patients from the Leipzig Heart Study over the course of 3.5 years. They discovered that even minor cardiac dysfunction—even in patients without clinically diagnosed heart failure—could predict microscopic tissue degradation in brain regions closely linked to Alzheimer’s disease. This tissue damage accounted for the link between minor heart dysfunction and poor long-term memory performance.
Says Zhang, “Tracking brain microstructural integrity offers a novel avenue for neurological risk stratification in patients with cardiac dysfunction.” This may be a valuable tool for clinicians, whose current imaging methods cannot detect microscopic changes in the brain associated with heart issues. The researchers plan to incorporate specific biomarkers in the brain, with the end goal of mapping how heart-related brain changes overlap with early dementia mechanisms.
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About JNeurosci
JNeurosci was launched in 1981 as a means to communicate the findings of the highest quality neuroscience research to the growing field. Today, the journal remains committed to publishing cutting-edge neuroscience that will have an immediate and lasting scientific impact, while responding to authors' changing publishing needs, representing breadth of the field and diversity in authorship.
About The Society for Neuroscience
The Society for Neuroscience is the world's largest organization of scientists and physicians devoted to understanding the brain and nervous system. The nonprofit organization, founded in 1969, now has nearly 35,000 members in more than 95 countries.
JNeurosci
10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2274-25.2026
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The authors declare no competing financial interests.