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A new study from the University of Southern California suggests that the way blood pressure fluctuates from one heartbeat to the next may be just as important as the overall blood pressure reading — especially when it comes to brain health in aging adults.

Researchers found that older adults who experienced greater beat-to-beat changes in blood pressure had smaller brain volumes in areas tied to memory, and higher levels of a protein linked to nerve-cell injury.

"Even when blood pressure is well-controlled with medication , the rapid fluctuation in blood pressure from heartbeat to heartbeat is associated with worse memory and signs of brain shrinkage and brain cell injury," USC Professor Daniel Nation, senior author of t

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