High blood pressure linked to weaker brain fluid coordination
A case-control study of 48 people with high blood pressure and 19 controls linked weaker coordination between brain blood activity and fluid flow to poorer cognition.
Limit: Only 48 people with high blood pressure and 19 controls were compared
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
A case-control study compared 48 people with high blood pressure and 19 people with normal blood pressure using functional magnetic resonance imaging scans. Researchers measured how closely brain blood activity tracked the inflow of cerebrospinal fluid, the liquid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. This coordination is an indirect indicator of the brain’s waste clearance. Coordination was lower in people with high blood pressure. Weaker coordination was also associated with poorer performance on a cognitive test.
A prospective observational study followed 127 people with well-controlled high blood pressure for one year. Coordination increased, while blood pressure fluctuations around meals decreased. Greater fluctuations were associated with weaker coordination at both visits.
Why it matters
High blood pressure is a major risk factor for dementia. The work examines whether the brain’s waste-clearing processes may help account for its link to cognitive function.
Caveats
These observational studies used an indirect measure of brain clearance and cannot show that high blood pressure caused the differences. The findings were reported in a congress abstract, with follow-up limited to people with well-controlled high blood pressure.
