In conclusion, they found that cardiovascular risk moderates the association between infectious diseases and processing speed. Participants at low risk for a cardiovascular event in the next 10 years had no differences in processing speed with increasing exposure to infectious disease, whereas participants with risk for a cardiovascular event had worse processing speed with increased exposure to infectious disease. Although our analyses cannot directly address it, our findings are broadly consistent with the hypothesis that cardiovascular risk factors might alter the integrity and function of the blood-brain barrier resulting in increased penetration of infectious diseases into the brain with subsequent changes in cognitive function.