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Brain function, cognition, and the blood pressure response to pharmacological treatment

J Richard Jennings1, Israel C Christie, Matthew F Muldoon

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.

Psychosomatic Medicine
|July 20, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Essential hypertension impacts brain function and cognitive performance. Successful blood pressure lowering treatments are linked to specific changes in regional cerebral blood flow, highlighting brain function

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cardiology
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Essential hypertension is linked to neuropsychological deficits.
  • Brain function may predict treatment success for blood pressure reduction.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the relationship between brain function and blood pressure (BP) control in hypertensive patients.
  • To assess how BP lowering treatment affects neuropsychological performance and regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF).

Main Methods:

  • Voxel-based whole-brain analysis using positron emission tomography (PET) in 43 hypertensive patients.
  • Neuropsychological testing and BP measurements were conducted before and after 1 year of treatment.
  • Assessment of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) and its responsivity to working memory tasks.

Main Results:

  • Neuropsychological performance improved with treatment, but not directly correlated with rCBF changes.
  • Greater systolic BP reduction correlated with altered rCBF responsivity in frontal, parietal, thalamic, and brainstem areas.
  • Improved working memory performance was associated with decreased rCBF responsivity in specific brain regions.

Conclusions:

  • Treatment success for both BP and cognitive function in hypertension is associated with distinct rCBF patterns.
  • Brain function is critically relevant to the effective management of hypertension.
Abstract

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