Blood pressure reactivity and cognitive function in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.
OBJECTIVE
Several blood pressure indexes of autonomic dysregulation, including stress-induced blood pressure responses (i.e., reactivity), have been associated previously with stroke, silent cerebrovascular disease, and decreased cognitive function.


METHODS
The authors examined the cross-sectional relations among systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) reactivity and cognitive function in a sample of stroke- and dementia-free older adults (n = 73, 53% male, 72% Caucasian, mean age = 70.14 years) from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging.


METHODS
Age, education, baseline, and reactive blood pressure levels were regressed on cognitive test scores measuring the domains of attention, learning and memory, verbal functions/language skills, and perceptuo-motor speed. A Bonferroni correction was employed and results significant at the standard p < .05 level are discussed as marginally significant.


RESULTS
After adjustment for age, education, and resting blood pressure, greater SBP reactivity was associated with poorer performance on Digits Forward (R2 = .110, p = .007) and greater DBP reactivity was associated with poorer performance on Digits Forward (R(2) = .124, p = .003) and the Boston Naming Test (R(2) = .118, p = .008); associations with DBP reactivity and Alpha Span (R(2) = .104; p = .019) and CVLT free recall short delay (R(2) = .066, p = .032) were marginally significant.


CONCLUSIONS
Greater BP reactivity was associated with poorer performance on tests of attention, verbal memory, and confrontation naming. BP reactivity may be a biobehavioral risk factor for lowered levels of cognitive performance.
Brown
Jessica P
JP
Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 655 West Baltimore Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. pbrown@epi.umaryland.edu
Sollers
John J
JJ
Thayer
Julian F
JF
Zonderman
Alan B
AB
Waldstein
Shari R
SR
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000502:physiology; D015142:Baltimore; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D056344:Executive Function / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D012016:Reference Values; D014706:Verbal Learning / Q000502:physiology