Postoperative Cognitive Decline

Postoperative cognitive decline: where art tau?

T AU is an axonal microtubule-associated protein whose best known function is to bind and stabilize microtubules and promote their polymerization. Tau, a variously sized protein, has a number of repeated domains that bind tubulin and a number of phosphorylation sites that modulate its affinity for tubulin. In general, phosphorylation through a number of kinases decreases tau affinity to microtu...

Is postoperative cognitive decline clinically relevant?

To the Editor: We applaud Avidan et al. in their assessment of the general relationship between postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) and dementing illness. We have a number of questions and concerns, and we hope the authors might address them. As noted by the authors, the report revisits the question of whether geriatric patients who undergo surgery have a more rapid decline into dementia...

Does Anesthesia Cause Postoperative Cognitive Decline?

The neuroinflammatory response of postoperative cognitive decline.

BACKGROUND Aseptic surgical trauma provokes a homeostatic neuroinflammatory response to promote healing and protect the organism from further injury. When this response is dysregulated, harmful consequences can follow, including postoperative cognitive decline. SOURCES OF DATA We performed a comprehensive search on PubMed related to postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD). AREAS OF AGREE...

Microglia mediate postoperative hippocampal inflammation and cognitive decline in mice.

Surgery can induce cognitive decline, a risk that increases with advancing age. In rodents, postoperative cognitive decline (POCD) is associated with the inflammatory activation of hippocampal microglia. To examine the role of microglia in POCD, we inhibited the colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) in adult mice, effectively depleting CNS microglia. Surgical trauma (tibial fracture) red...