Neuropsychological correlates of hypertension

Twenty newly diagnosed, untreated hypertensive men (diastolic blood pressure greater than 105 mm Hg) and 20 normotensive controls were given a neuropsychological battery, including tests of generalized, more global functions (eg, reaction time and full-scale IQ) and of specific functions (eg, language and visual-spatial abilities) sensitive to focal damage. Tests of specific abilities yielded no differences between the two groups. In contrast, tests of general neuropsychological functioning revealed a deficit among hypertensives, who were significantly slower on the reaction time test and had a shorter span for digits in forward order. Results suggest that arterial hypertension is associated with impairment of vigilance and attention span. Future research will determine whether this impairment is associated with the diffuse pathological changes seen in the brain of hypertensive subjects, or with a more "functional" change (eg, reduced cerebral blood flow).