title: Longitudinal changes in cortical thinning associated with hypertension.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cross-sectional studies of the association between hypertension (HTN) and brain atrophy have shown reductions in prefrontal, temporal, and hippocampal volumes, and have identified thinner cortices across the cortical mantle.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the current study, we followed 96 participants enrolled in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging over a mean interval of 8 years (mean age at baseline = 68.7) and compared those who are hypertensive (n = 49) throughout the study with those who are normotensive (n = 47).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hypertensive individuals show an increased rate of thinning compared with normotensive individuals in several regions, including the frontomarginal gyrus in the left hemisphere, and the superior temporal, fusiform, and lateral orbitofrontal cortex in the right hemisphere. We also investigated the effects of midlife blood pressure (BP), intervisit variability in BP prior to imaging, and duration of HTN on areas that show subsequent differences in the rates of cortical thinning between groups. We found that higher midlife BP and longer durations of HTN predicted a higher rate of thinning in the right superior temporal gyrus. We also found that greater variability in SBP but not DBP predicted a higher rate of thinning in the right superior temporal gyrus, frontomarginal gyrus, and occipital pole.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings demonstrate that hypertensive individuals show increased rates of thinning compared with normotensive individuals and suggest intervisit BP variability and midlife BP contribute to these longitudinal differences.
authors.affiliation: aLaboratory of Behavioral Neuroscience, National Institute on Aging, NIH, Baltimore bNational Intrepid Center of Excellence, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pacheco
authors.forename: Lori L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Beason-Held
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Resnick
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging; D001284:Atrophy / Q000473:pathology; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000473:pathology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D059906:Neuroimaging