Primary hypertension and neurocognitive and executive functioning in school-age children.

Data on neurocognitive function in hypertensive children are limited. In this review, we summarize recent preliminary, early studies that suggest that children with elevated blood pressure demonstrate evidence of worse performance on direct neurocognitive testing, as well as evidence of executive dysfunction based on parent ratings, compared with matched normotensive comparison groups. Furthermore, hypertensive children may have increased prevalence of learning disabilities as well as a blunted cerebrovascular reactivity compared with normotensive controls. Larger, prospective studies are needed to confirm and further explore these emerging but preliminary findings.