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Disease prevention

Understanding the link between atrial fibrillation and cognitive decline

A phase 3 trial shows no impact of the anticoagulant rivaroxaban on the risk of cognitive decline in individuals with atrial fibrillation and low thromboembolic risk — highlighting the need for a better understanding of the mechanisms that link these conditions.

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Fig. 1: The complex relationship between atrial fibrillation and cognitive decline.

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Correspondence to Marco Proietti.

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Competing interests

M.P. declares speaker activity for Pfizer and BMS/JJ Alliance and consulting activity for Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; M.P. is also the Italian national principal investigator of the AFFIRMO project on multimorbidity in atrial fibrillation, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant 899871. G.F.R. declares consultancy for Boehringer Ingelheim and an educational grant from Anthos, outside of this work. No fees are directly received personally.

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Proietti, M., Romiti, G.F. Understanding the link between atrial fibrillation and cognitive decline. Nat Med 32, 40–41 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-025-04127-2

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