Cognitive, emotional, and behavioral disorders in hypertensive patients

Abstract

The brain is a natural target organ in hypertension and, as shown by some clinical observations, it is affected earlier than other organs and systems. Due to the specific features of the anatomy of cerebral circulation, hypertensive microangiopathy leads primarily to damage to the subcortical basal ganglia and deep white matter. Clinically, this is manifested by a concurrence of predominantly subcortical cognitive impairment and emotional and behavioral disorders as depression, emotional lability, and apathy. Some features of depression, such as the prevalence of anhedonia and fatigue and the significant severity of cognitive and somatic symptoms in an elderly person with vascular disease, suggest its organic nature (vascular depression).

Keywords

• hypertension
• cognitive impairment
• emotional and behavioral disorders
• depression