Wang S, et al. - Researchers investigated the link between resting heart rate (RHR), measured in mid-life, and cognitive decline in this study, which involved 13,720 middle-aged white and black ARIC study participants without a prior history of stroke or atrial fibrillation. At baseline visit (1990-1992), a 12-lead resting electrocardiogram was performed to obtain RHR. Furthermore, RHR was classified into groups as < 60 (reference), 60-69, 70-79 and ≥ 80 beats/minute. At baseline and at up to two additional visits (1996-1998 and 2011-2013), cognitive scores were obtained. Findings demonstrated that elevated RHR was independently related to greater cognitive decline and incident dementia over 20-years.