Brain Regional Blood Flow and Working Memory Performance Predict Change in Blood Pressure Over 2 Years.

ABSTRACT: Hypertension is a presumptive risk factor for premature cognitive decline. However, lowering blood pressure (BP) does not uniformly reverse cognitive decline, suggesting that high BP per se may not cause cognitive decline. We hypothesized that essential hypertension has initial effects on the brain that, over time, manifest as cognitive dysfunction in conjunction with both brain vascular abnormalities and systemic BP elevation. Accordingly, we tested whether neuropsychological function and brain blood flow responses to cognitive challenges among prehypertensive individuals would predict subsequent progression of BP. Midlife adults (n=154; mean age, 49; 45% men) with prehypertensive BP underwent neuropsychological testing and assessment of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) response to cog

SUBMITTER: Jennings JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5685165 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature