The effect of hypertension and brain lesions on cognition in three Aberdeen samples

High blood pressure is common and has a negative effect on brain health. We have demonstrated in the Aberdeen Birth Cohorts of 1921 (aged 78) and 1936 (aged 68) that high blood pressure has a negative effect on change in intelligence across the lifespan and that this is mediated by lesions on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Here we propose to add information currently being collected in a younger sample, for whom there are similar childhood intelligence measures, the Aberdeen Children of the 1950s, as part of a larger Wellcome Trust funded study. The student will develop statistical models of change in intelligence from childhood to late mid-life and measure the influence of high blood pressure and brain MRI lesions.