Vascular dementia can occur following a stroke event where cerebral blood vessels are blocked causing damage to the regions of the brain affected. Cognitive decline can also occur when multiple small blood vessels in the brain are affected causing small minor strokes, which results in gradual impairment cognitive function. In vascular dementia, memory loss may not be the main complaint but impairment in executive function such as slowness in thought process planning and judgement, can occur in the early stages.