Cognitive decline following stroke: A comprehensive study of cognitive decline following stroke

General insight into the frequency and gravity of cognitive dysfunctions fo llowing stroke and its influencing factors is still lacking. With an extens ive neuropsychological battery 229 patients who had suffered a stroke were assessed. More than 70% of the patients showed a marked slowness of informa tion processing, whereas at least 40% of all patients had difficulty with m emory, visuospatial and constructive tasks, language skills, and arithmetic . A significant effect was found for side and type of stroke, gender, and t he presence of aphasia. No significant effect was found for cortical versus subcortical lesions, having one versus multiple strokes, having lowered co nsciousness on admission, the presence of risk factors, a paresis of the ha nd, or the interval between the stroke and the neuropsychological assessmen t.