Stroke Risk Predicts Verbal Fluency Decline in Healthy Older Men: Evidence From the Normative Aging Study

Abstract

Risk factors for stroke cause ischemic changes in the cerebral white matter that may affect frontal lobe functions more than other brain functions. Therefore, stroke risk could specifically affect performance on behavioral indexes traditionally associated with frontal lobe function such as verbal fluency. The authors examined this hypothesis in 235 healthy older men (mean age = 66.41 years) who received concurrent medical and neuropsychological examinations twice at a 3-year interval. Relations between stroke risk and decline in verbal fluency, memory, and visuospatial performance were analyzed through regression, controlling for age and education. Age was associated with decline in all cognitive functions; stroke risk was associated with decline only on verbal fluency. The relation between stroke risk and fluency decline was 80% as large as that between age and fluency decline. These results suggest that stroke risk rivals the effects of aging on verbal fluency performance.