The baroreceptor control of the sinus node was evaluated in 10 normotensive and 10 age-matched essential hypertensive subjects in whom ambulatory blood pressure was recorded intraarterially for 24 hours and scanned by a computer to identify the sequences of three or more consecutive beats hi which systolic blood pressure (SBP) and pulse interval (PI) progressively rose (+ PI/ + SBP) or fell (− PI/ −SBP) in a linear fashion, according to a method validated in cats. In normotensive subjects, several hundred +PI/+SBP and −PI/−SBP sequences of 3 beats were found whereas the number of sequences of 4,5, and more than 5 beats showed a progressive drastic reduction. The mean slopes of plus; PI/ + SBP (7.6 ± 2.0 msec/mm Hg) and − PI/− SBP (6.4 ± 1.5 msec/mm Hg) sequences were similar, but in both instances there was a large scattering of the values around the mean (variation coefficients: 64.2 ± 4.7 and 62.6 ± 2.4%). The slopes decreased as a function of the sequence length and baseline heart rate and increased to a marked extent during the night as compared with daytime values. All sequences were more rare (−33.2% for +PI/ + SBP and −31.7% for −PI/−SBP) and less steep in hypertensive subjects (−40.3 and −36.2%, respectively), who failed to show the marked nighttime increase in slope observed in normotensive subjects. To our knowledge, these observations provide the first description in humans of the baroreceptor-heart rate reflex in daily life. This reflex is characterized by marked within-subject variations hi sensitivity due in part to hemodynamic, temporal, and behavioral factors. All features of the baroreceptor-heart rate reflex are unpaired hi essential hypertension.