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Elena Nechaeva from Getty Images via Canvapro
Difficulty speaking, concentrating, or remembering things are common after a stroke. However, the impact varies greatly from one patient to another. For a long time, symptoms were assumed to be dependent on the location in the brain affected by the stroke. This new study shows that overall brain health and the patient’s level of education also play an important role.
The study is a large international collaboration, primarily between Oxford and KULeuven, with co-first authors Margaret Jane Moore and Hanne Huygelier (the former previously a DPhil candidate at Oxford, now based in Brisbane), and senior authors Professor Nele Demeyere (NDCN) and Céline Gillebert (KULeuven).
The researchers analysed data from 2172 patients in Belgium, Italy, and the United Kingdom, the majority of which comes from the Oxford Cognitive Screening programme at the John Radcliffe Hospital’s stroke unit, which has been coordinated by Prof Demeyere since 2012. All patients were assessed using the Oxford Cognitive Screen, a standardised test that maps language skills, memory, attention, numeracy, and other cognitive functions.
The study included patients with different types of strokes: both ischaemic (blood clot) and haemorrhagic (blood vessel rupture) strokes. The patients varied in age (as strokes affects both younger and older individuals), educational background, and health profiles.
Read the full story on the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences website.