Is There a Specific Pattern of Attention Deficit in Mild Cognitive Impairment with Subcortical Vascular Features? Evidence from the Attention Network Test

• Published in: Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders Vol. 31; no. 4; pp. 268 - 275
• Main Authors: Fernández, Pedro J., Campoy, Guillermo, García Santos, Jose M., Antequera, Martirio M., García-Sevilla, Julia, Castillo, Alejandro, Antúnez, Carmen, Fuentes, Luis J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel, Switzerland Karger 01.05.2011; S. Karger AG
• Subjects: Acetylcholine - physiology; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Atrophy; Attention - physiology; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - pathology; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity - physiopathology; Biological and medical sciences; Cognition Disorders - pathology; Cognition Disorders - physiopathology; Degenerative and inherited degenerative diseases of the nervous system. Leukodystrophies. Prion diseases; Dementia, Vascular - pathology; Dementia, Vascular - physiopathology; Executive Function - physiology; Female; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Neurology; Neuropharmacology; Neuropsychological Tests; Original Research Article; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer; Psychoanaleptics: cns stimulant, antidepressant agent, nootropic agent, mood stabilizer..., (alzheimer disease); Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopharmacology; Severity of Illness Index; Vascular mild cognitive impairment; Attention network test; Cholinergic system; Nervous system diseases; Cognitive disorder; Attentional disorder; mild cognitive impairment; Degenerative disease; Subcortex; Dementia
• ISSN: 1420-8008; 1421-9824
• DOI: 10.1159/000327165

Background: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediate state between normal aging and early dementia. Some MCI patients show white matter hyperintensities in magnetic resonance imaging, revealing subcortical vascular damage (SVD). This study aimed to evaluate potential attention deficits not previously described in these patients. Specifically, we evaluated attention network functioning in MCI on the basis of Posner’s cognitive neuroscience model, which considers attention as a set of networks: alerting, orienting and executive control. Methods: Three groups of participants were tested: 19 MCI patients with SVD (svMCI), 15 MCI patients free from SVD (nvMCI) and 19 healthy controls (HC). We used a task in which the three attention networks and their interactions can be assessed simultaneously, the Attention Network Test (ANT). Results: The svMCI group showed smaller orienting effect compared with the nvMCI and HC groups. In contrast to the HC and nvMCI groups, svMCI patients did not show improvement in the executive network from the valid visual cue. Conclusions: svMCI patients show a deficit in orienting attention networks. This deficit could be related to an effect of SVD on the cholinergic system because acetylcholine is implicated in the modulation of covert orienting responses of attention.