Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2026, Vol. 21 ›› Issue (1): 302-303.doi: 10.4103/NRR.NRR-D-24-00925

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Cognition, apathy, and gait dysfunction in cerebral small vessel disease: A shared neural basis?

Hao Li, Mengfei Cai, Anil Man Tuladhar*   

  1. Radboud University Medical Center, Department of Neurology; Radboud Institute for Medical Research and Innovation and Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior, Nijmegen, The Netherlands (Li H, Cai M, Tuladhar AM) Department of Neurology, Guangdong Neuroscience Institute, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China (Cai M)
  • Online:2026-01-15 Published:2025-04-23
  • Contact: Anil Man Tuladhar, MD, PhD, Anil.Tuladhar@Radboudumc.nl.
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by China Scholarship Council (No. 202106380078 to HL) and the Netherlands Cardiovascular Research Initiative: The Dutch Heart Foundation (CVON 2018-28 and 2012-06 Heart Brain Connection to AMT).

Abstract: Cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) represents a range of pathological changes in the small blood vessels of the brain. SVD can be detected on MRI, which includes white matter hyperintensities, lacunes, and cerebral microbleeds (Duering et al., 2023). Patients with SVD exhibit significant clinical heterogeneity, often presenting with cognitive impairment, apathy, gait dysfunction, and lacunar stroke (Wardlaw et al., 2019). The chronic and progressive symptoms, such as cognitive and motor complaints, as well as mood disorders, continuously affect SVD patients. This, in turn, often results in a loss of functional independence and a diminished quality of life (Wardlaw et al., 2019). Previous studies have focused on unraveling the underlying mechanisms, the trajectory, and the potential clinical outcomes of these specific symptoms (e.g., cognitive impairment, apathy, and gait dysfunction) in SVD (Wardlaw et al., 2019). However, these studies typically investigated each symptom individually, without integrating these symptoms to provide a comprehensive understanding.