The association between blood pressure (BP) and cognitive functioning in the elderly is still under debate. Theoretically, high BP could either prevent or enhance cognitive impairment. The authors assessed the changes that took place in BP and cognitive functioning over 6 years. A total of 318 noninstitutional elderly (81% of the survivors) were re-evaluated. BP was measured and a cognitive test was performed. Elderly patients who had higher systolic BP (SBP) and scored lower on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) at baseline were less likely to survive. At follow-up, the proportion of patients with normal or normalized BP by treatment increased. Considerable changes in SBP were observed. Most cognitive functions declined during follow-up; however, decline in SBP was associated with better verbal fluency and memory. Both an increase and a decline in SBP were associated with better MMSE scores. Changes in diastolic BP (DBP) were less evident and DBP was not related to cognitive functioning. The current study demonstrates the importance of studying the dynamics of both BP and cognition over time. It appears that transition from hypertension to normotension improves cognitive functions. Survival processes may restrict the evaluation of the BP-cognition interaction over time.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-7176.2011.00525.x | DOI Listing |
Behav Brain Sci
January 2025
Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA,
Murayama and Jach offer valuable suggestions for how to integrate computational processes into motivation theory, but these processes cannot do away with motivation altogether. Rewards are only rewarding because people want and like them - that is, because of motivation. Sexual desire is not primarily a quest for rewarding information.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBehav Brain Sci
January 2025
Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Coatesville, PA,
Endogenous reward (intrinsic reward at will) is a that is by steps toward any goals which are challenging and/or uncommon enough to prevent its debasement by inflation. A "theory of mental computational processes" should propose what properties let goals grow from appetites for endogenous rewards. Endogenous reward may be the universal selective factor in all modifiable mental processes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBehav Brain Sci
January 2025
Department of Human Development and Quantitative Methodology, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD,
In their article, Murayama and Jach contend that a mental computational model demonstrates that high-level motivations are emergent properties from underlying cognitive processes rather than instigators of behaviors. Despite points of agreement with the authors' critiques of the motivation literature, I argue that their claim of dismantling the black box of the human mind has been constructed on shaking grounds.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAcupunct Med
January 2025
Combination of Acupuncture and Medicine Innovation Research Center, Shaanxi University of Chinese Medicine, Xianyang, China.
Objective: Cognitive impairment (CI) is highly prevalent in subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) patients. The phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT pathway plays a critical role in neuronal survival in a variety of central nervous system injuries. This study aimed to determine whether electroacupuncture (EA) at and LI20 ameliorates SAH-CI in a rat model and to examine whether it modulates the PI3K/AKT pathway by administering a PI3K inhibitor (LY294002) versus dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) vehicle.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Top Med Chem
January 2025
Graphic Era (Deemed to be University), Clement Town Dehradun, India.
Alzheimer's Disease (AD), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, is characterized by the accumulation of neurofibrillary tangles and β-amyloid plaques, leading to a decline in cognitive function. AD is characterized by tau protein hyperphosphorylation and extracellular β-amyloid accumulation. Even after much research, there are still no proven cures for AD.
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