Cardiovascular Risk, Vascular Neuropathology, and Medication: Impacts on Cognition in Aging Lead Investigator: Lindsay Rotblatt Institution : University of Florida E-Mail : lindsayrotblatt@gmail.com Proposal ID : 1043 Proposal Description: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) consists of both cardiovascular risk factors (e.g., hypertension, Type 2 diabetes) and medical comorbidities (e.g., myocardial infarction, heart failure). Cardiovascular disease increases with age and has been shown to be associated with poorer cognition (e.g., memory, executive function, language, visuospatial abilities) and faster cognitive decline in older adults. While some studies have suggested beneficial effects of CVD medications (prescribed to reduce risk of CVD related events) for reducing the negative impacts on cognition, most studies exploring the relationship between CVD and cognition have failed to consider pharmacological treatment altogether. Anatomically, CVD has been most commonly associated with the increased occurrence of white matter hyperintensities (WHM) and cortical and subcortical infarcts/strokes, as well as reductions in brain gray matter. Thus, this study aims to investigate whether baseline indices of vascular neuropathology (white matter hyperintensities and atrophy) mediate the relationship between baseline measure of CVD (derived as a composite of available objective and subjective risk factors and comorbidities) on changes in cognition in older adults. The study further proposes to investigate whether pharmacological treatment of cardiovascular disease attenuates the impact of CVD on cognitive decline. Our goal in this study is to extend extant literature by (1) examining whether CVD effects on cognition are mediated by regional indicators of cerebrovascular injury and (2) examining whether pharmacological treatment of CVD mitigates the risk of cognitive decline.