SynthesisJournal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism2013
Associations between retinal microvascular changes and dementia, cognitive functioning, and brain imaging abnormalities: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 139 citations in OpenAlex.
- Altered resting-state brain function in diabetic retinopathy: a meta-analysis of combined transcriptome-neuroimaging study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Pooled it
- The association between dual sensory impairment and dementia: a meta-analysis and systematic review of the literature.Age and ageing · 2025Pooled it
- Associations between diabetic retinopathy, mortality, disease, and mental health: an umbrella review of observational meta-analyses.BMC endocrine disorders · 2022Pooled it
- Association between retinal markers and cognition in older adults: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2022Pooled it
- Left ventricular hypertrophy in association with cognitive impairment: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension · 2017Pooled it
- Retinal microvasculature and cerebral small vessel disease in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 and Mild Stroke Study.Scientific reports · 2019Trial
- Systemic Diseases and the Eye: A Translational Perspective on Diabetes.Chronic diseases and translational medicine · 2026Review
- Feasibility of identifying factors related to Alzheimer's disease and related dementia in real-world data.JAMIA open · 2026Review
- Retinal Microvasculature and Emotional, Behavioral, and Cognitive Outcomes at School Age.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2026Article
- Retinal neurovascular and mitochondrial function signatures related to cognition improvement following yoga exercise in older adults.PloS one · 2026Article
- Observational
- Brain and retina in Alzheimer's disease: Pathological intersections and estimates from imaging.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Review
- Association between retinal microvasculature and cerebral small vessel function in type 2 diabetes: An ultrahigh field MRI study.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2025Article
- Association Between Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA)-Based Retinal Vascular Densities and Empathy in Young Adults.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Diabetes and incident stroke and mediation by microvascular dysfunction: Pooled analysis of three population-based studies.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2025Article
- Standardization and clinical applications of retinal imaging biomarkers for cardiovascular disease: a Roadmap from an NHLBI workshop.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2025Review
- A review of type 2 diabetes mellitus and cognitive impairment.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2025Review
- Using ultrafast angio planewave ultrasensitive and conventional doppler imaging techniques to assess intramuscular blood perfusion in older adults.BMC medical imaging · 2024Observational
- Retinal vessel caliber and cognitive performance: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA).Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Microvascular Dysfunction and Whole-Brain White Matter Connectivity: The Maastricht Study.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2024Article
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Retinal microvascular changes can be visualized noninvasively and have been associated with cognitive decline and brain changes in relation to aging and vascular disease. We systematically reviewed studies, published between 1990 and November 2012, on the association between retinal microvascular changes and dementia, cognitive functioning, and brain imaging abnormalities, in the context of aging and vascular risk factors. In cross-sectional studies (k=26), retinal microvascular changes were associated with the presence of dementia (range of odds ratios (ORs) 1.17;5.57), with modest decrements in cognitive functioning in nondemented people (effect sizes -0.25;0.03), and with brain imaging abnormalities, including atrophy and vascular lesions (ORs 0.94;2.95). Longitudinal studies were more sparse (k=9) and showed no consistent associations between retinal microvascular changes and dementia or cognitive dysfunctioning 3 to 15 years later (ORs and hazard ratios 0.77;1.55). However, there were indications of prospective associations with brain imaging abnormalities ((ORs) 0.81;3.19). In conclusion, particularly in cross-sectional studies there is a correlation between retinal microvascular changes and dementia, cognitive impairment, and brain imaging abnormalities. Associations are strongest for more severe retinal microvascular abnormalities. Retinal microvascular abnormalities may offer an important window on the brain for etiological studies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.