The Seventh International Congress on Vascular Dementia to be held in October 2011, will “face the challenges of dementia”, and once again be a showcase for the discussion of new developments in the field of dementia with a special emphasis on cerebrovascular diseases affecting cognition.

This congress will be an excellent opportunity to deliberate on large and small vessel brain diseases and how they contribute to cognitive decline. We will try to identify specific biological and psychological markers, if any, of vascular dementia, and also the genetic factors involved. The overlap with Alzheimer’s disease will be a central issue, as will be the white matter changes frequently seen in dementia.