Impairment in Preattentive Processing among Patients with Hypertension Revealed by Visual Mismatch Negativity

Abstract

Objective. Patients with hypertension show deficits in cognitive function. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the preattentive information processing in hypertensive patients are poorly understood. We seek to investigate whether hypertensive patients have impairments in preattentive information processing. Methods. We compared visual mismatch negativity (vMMN) between 15 hypertensive patients and 15 age-matched healthy controls, which was elicited by the change of visual duration randomly presented in both peripheral visual fields. In addition, the global cognitive function for all participants was assessed with Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). Results. The vMMN in deviant-standard comparison was observed at occipital-temporal regions. Compared with normal healthy controls, the amplitude of vMMN was significantly decreased in hypertensive patients (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the vMMN peak latency was delayed in the hypertensive group (P < 0.05). However, the MMSE scores of patients with hypertension were not significantly different from those of controls (P > 0.05), and there was no significant correlation between the mean amplitude of vMMN and SBP, DBP, and MMSE in hypertensive individuals, respectively. Conclusions. These data indicate dysfunction of automatically change detection processing in patients with hypertension. Moreover, the changes of vMMN provide a more objective and reliable assessment for cognitive impairment in hypertensive patients.

Assessment of Cognition in Hypertensives and Normotensives: A Comparative P300 Study

“…This effect is not evident in HMSE, Hindi MoCA, and CRTs. The increase in P300 latencies is well documented in previous studies [18][19][20][21], and also increase in N200 latencies is shown in studies done in the past by Si et al and Akhtar et al [22][23].…”

Visual mismatch negativity (vMMN): A review and meta-analysis of studies in psychiatric and neurological disorders

“…Reports regarding the MMSE are equivocal and while Stothart et al (2014) found that a lower MMSE corresponds to a less pronounced vMMN, such a relationship was not observed in a study of patients with dementia (Iijima et al, 1995) or hypertension (Si et al, 2014). Stothart et al (2014) showed a positive relationship between the vMMN amplitude and the MMSE.…”

“…Moreover, Si et al (2014), studying patients with hypertension, found that their vMMN to duration changes in stimuli randomly presented in both peripheral fields, was considerably attenuated in amplitude and delayed in peak latency compared with those of controls.…”

Prevalence and Predictors of Cognitive Impairment Among Hypertensive Patients on Follow Up at Jimma University Medical Center, Jimma, Southwest Ethiopia

“…Cognitive deficits due to HTN in adults can be difficult to detect but can be divided into several domains including learning, memory, and attention (11) . The blood vessels in the prefrontal subcortical areas are often affected by severe HTN, which can affect the ability to make executive decisions (e.g., planning, attention, problem solving, verbal reasoning, etc.)…”