Inhibitory Control Deficit In Patients With High Blood Pressure: An Event-related Potentials Study

Objective：To investigate the electrophysiological evidence of inhibitory control deficit usinga visual simple Go/Nogo task and discuss the relationship between ERPs components and theMMSE scores in hypertension patients.Methods: Select25cases of hypertension patients and normal controls in25cases received avisual simple Go／Nogo task．The stimuli was the same size equilateral triangle, the stimuliwere single(Nogo) or double equilateral triangle(Go), The participants were instructed torespond by pressing a button using their thumbs as quickly as possible after the Go stimuliappeared and to withhold the response when the Nogo stimuli appeared. The wholeexperiment including300stimulus,Go stimulate and Nogo stimulation rate is respectively60%,40%. Each stimulus consecutive times less than4times. Stimulus presentation time50ms, average stimulus interval (ISI) of about750ms, complete the Go/Nogo task takesabout5min.Behavior data and32channel EEG data were recorded. Useing Mini-Mental StateExamination (MMSE) as a tool to assess the subjects’ cognitive function, and record the score.Results:1. Behavior data of two groups were not significant;2. The results showed that ERPs system: Both the hypertension group and the healthycontrol group were successfully induced N2and P3.（1）Nogo task caused a significant amount of the frontal central Nogo-N2and Nogo-P3component, and showed significant Go/Nogo effect，Compared with the Go Nogo in200-300ms time window has a more obvious negative components namely Nogo-N2,Nogo-N2amplitude reached statistical significance: the hypertension group F（1,48）=-3.258，P=0.034、 the healthy control group F（1,48）==3.346, P=0.028；In300-500ms produced moreobvious is composition Nogo-P3, Nogo-P3amplitude reached statistical significance:：thehypertension group F（1,48）=-3.432，P=0.046、the healthy control group F（1,48）=-3.573,P=0.042)；Within two N2, P3latencies showed no statistical significance (P>0.05).（2）The amplitude of Nogo-N2and N2d are borderline significant difference betweengroups （Nogo-N2: F（1,48）=3.391，P=0.077；N2d：F（1,48）=2.968，P=0．096）, the latenciesof N2d are significant difference between groups （F（1,48）=25.858，P=0．000）； the latenciesof Nogo-N2are borderline significant difference between groups （F（1,48）=3.783，P=0.062）； The amplitude of Go-P3、Nogo-P3、P3d are no significant difference between groups; thelatencies of Go-P3、P3d are significant difference between groups （Go-P3：F（1,48）=0.912，P=0.039；P3d：F（1,48）=6.013，P=0．021＜0.05）; the latencies of Nogo-P3are borderlinesignificant difference between groups （F（1,48）=0.751，P=0.094）；3. Hypertension group MMSE score was significantly lower than the control group（Hypertension group＝24.315±1.782，control group＝27.856±1.654，t＝-3.83，P＜0.05）;4. In hypertension group, the latencies of Nogo-N2has correlation with MMMSE score(r=0.392, p=0.035), the latencies of Nogo-P3has correlation with MMMSE score(r＝-0.253，p＝0.041).Conclusions: Hypertension patients early conflict monitoring mechanism and late feedbackinsecondion is unusual, inhibitory control processing disorder within200-300ms and300-500ms time window, may assist in offering new objective evidence to understand thehigh blood pressure．In hypertension group, the latencies of Nogo-N2and Nogo-P3havecorrelation with MMSE score, possible diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction in patients withhypertension have potential value, provide neurophysiological basis for further study ofcognitive function in patients with hypertension.