AUTHOR=Guo Yunliang , Zhao Shuo , Hou Xunyao , Nie Shanjing , Xu Song , Hong Yan , Chen Yali , Guo Shougang , Liu Xueping , Xia Zhangyong 

TITLE=Insidious Attentional Deficits in Patients With Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Revealed by Attention Network Test

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 13 - 2022

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2022.865307

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2022.865307

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=Background: Several reports have indicated potential cognitive decline for cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD), especially in attention domain, whereas the attentional function at network level is still elusive. In this study, we used the attention network test (ANT) paradigm to characterize the efficiency of the alerting, orienting and executive control networks in CSVD patients and explore possible correlations between attention network efficiencies and obtained CSVD total score.
Methods: A total of 31 CSVD patients and 30 healthy controls matched for age, gender and education level were recruited. After neuropsychological and anxiety/depression/somatization assessments, an original version of ANT containing different cue conditions and target stimuli was used to investigate independent attentional components, then behavioral performance (accuracy and reaction time) and network efficacy were recorded and analyzed.
Results: Assessed by traditional neuropsychological scale (MoCA), we did not find difference between groups on general cognition. Nevertheless, the overall reaction time to targets of ANT was markedly prolonged in CSVD patients, and similar phenomenon was observed for overall accuracy on ANT. Moreover, patients showed significantly lower orienting and executive control network efficiencies compared with controls, while not for alerting network. These impairments were correlated with total CSVD burdens, but not with anxiety, depression or somatization.
Conclusions: Although general and almost all individual cognitive function evaluated by MoCA seemed to remain intact, the orienting and executive control function was impaired in individuals with CSVD, which was modulated by lesion grades. Our observations implied insidious attentional deficits regarding CSVD. Given this, considering its simplicity and sensitivity, ANT could serve as an attractive tool for early diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction. Further investigations on the availability of ANT detection for CSVD are warranted.