Alert, High Blood Pressure Can Lower Brain Function

High blood pressure, aka hypertension synonymous with heart disease. But a new study revealed that hypertension, especially in the arteries that supply blood to the head and neck can be associated with decline of cognitive abilities the brain.

The research team from Australia said that sufferers with high blood pressure in the artery or central blood vessels, including the aorta and carotid arteries (the vessels that supply blood to part the neck and head) has a test score lower visual processing, including speed of slower thinking or slow, and recognition ability (recognize something) which worse.

"Usually the blood pressure measurements taken from brachial artery in the arm, but it turns out to observe the condition of the central artery can be more sensitive way to assess a person's cognitive abilities. Because, the central artery controlling blood flow to the brain directly," said researcher Matthew Pase of the Center for Human Psychopharmacology, Swinburne University, Melbourne.

"So if we can estimate the blood pressure in the central artery, then we can predicts cognitive function and cognitive decline that may occur in a person," he added.

In the study, Pase and his colleagues observed which of the blood pressure measurements from the arm or from a central artery that has a strong connection with the person's cognitive abilities.

In this case the researchers involve 493 participants aged 20-82 years from Australia. Most researchers are Caucasian race and non-smokers who have no history stroke or dementia.

Then participants were requested to perform a number of tasks to measure their cognitive abilities such as visual processing, memory, recognition ability (recognize something) and information processing speed. Not forgetting the researchers also measured the participants' blood pressure good from arms and a central artery.

As a result, high blood pressure in the brachial artery is associated with performance on tests of visual processing is worse. But high blood pressure in the central artery is associated with the bad performance on other cognitive tests, including visual processing, recognition and information processing speed.

"These thing shows that central blood pressure is prediction tool which more sensitive related with cognitive aging," Pase knot.

Pase surmise, with concomitant of increasing age someone then the main arteries tightens and with the elasticity which increasingly diminish, the brain receives more many blood which high its pressure, which in the end can damage the brain's cognitive abilities.

This study will be published in the journal Psychological Science.