Cognitive function and cardiovascular responsivity in subjects with a parental history of hypertension.

College-age subjects with and without a parental history of hypertension completed a battery of tests of cognitive function on two separate occasions. Pulse rate and blood pressure were measured during performance of each task. In one session, subjects were told that their performance was being evaluated and videotaped from behind an observation mirror (Evaluation Condition). In the other session, subjects were told that their performance was not being observed (Nonevaluation Condition). Regardless of Evaluation Condition, Parental History subjects exhibited slower search of short-term memory than Non-Family History subjects during the first but not the second testing session. Parental History subjects displayed greater elevations in pulse rate than Nonparental History subjects during task performance. The results were interpreted as providing evidence that pathophysiological mechanisms associated with essential hypertension are not the only viable explanations of lower levels of cognitive performance exhibited by hypertensive subjects.