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Brain scientists and cardiac surgeons at Johns Hopkins have evidence from 227 heart bypass surgery patients that long-term memory losses and cognitive problems they experience are due to the underlying coronary artery disease itself and not ill after-effects from having used a heart-lung machine.

Neurologists on the study team say the results highlight the need for further research into the long-term consequences of cardiovascular disease on the brain, and the brain's complex network of tiny blood vessels.

"Neuroscientists do not yet have good measures on heart disease and how the burden of this disease impacts brain function," says study senior investigator and neurologist Guy McKhann, M.D., a professor at Johns Hopkins, who next plans brain imaging studies to look at changes before and after heart bypass surgery to determine if there are any early, even predictive signs of cognitive problems, and if surgery could fix them.