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Abnormal cerebral electrogenesis is associated with impaired cognitive performance in hypertensive patients

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 27, pages 463–464 (2013)Cite this article

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Systemic hypertension has been associated with impairment in cognitive performance, and both structural and functional brain abnormalities. 1 The electroencephalogram (EEG) is a cheap and noninvasive investigation, but virtually no information is available on the effects of high blood pressure, if any, on cerebral electrogenesis. Here, we show that low-amplitude EEG is considerably more common in hypertensive patients than in the general population, and associated with cognitive impairment.

In order to confirm this observation, 48 consecutive outpatients (34 males, aged: 61±6 years) with long-lasting-controlled arterial hypertension (16±9 years since diagnosis, 2.8±1.2 anti-hypertensive drugs, average systolic pressure on treatment: 123±12 mm Hg, average diastolic pressure on treatment: 75±8 mm Hg) and no clinical signs of neuropsychiatric impairment, or history of cerebrovascular accidents were enrolled. Forty-two healthy volunteers (22 males, 64±12 years) served as reference. EEGs were recorded for 10 min, eye-closed, in a condition of relaxed wakefulness, using a 21-electrode cap (full protocol in Amodio et al.2), inspected blindly by two experienced observers (SM and AP), and qualified as ‘normal’ or ‘low amplitude’. Where the two observers did not agree (n=2), the EEG was re-analyzed and re-classified jointly. In addition, 100 s of artifact-free EEG were selected blindly by AP for spectral analysis and automated calculation of the spectral power, which is a direct function of the EEG amplitude, on the bi-parietal EEG derivation P3-P4 (full protocol in Amodio et al.2).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by University of Padua.

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All the authors, who are independent of any commercial funder, had full access to all the data. In particular, AS, as the principal investigator, coordinating the whole research work presented in the study, takes complete responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

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Author notes

  1. G Inverso

    Present address: 5Current address: Medicinkliniken, Vrinnevisjukhuset, Norrkoping, Sweden.,

  2. A Pellegrini

    Present address: 6Current address: Emergency Department, Ospedale dell’Angelo, Venice.,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    S Montagnese, S Schiff, A Realdi, G Inverso, A Pellegrini, P Iannizzi, P Amodio & A Semplicini

  2. Division of Neuroradiology, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy

    R Manara

  3. Department of General Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy

    D Mapelli

  4. Department of Clinical Medicine, SS. Giovanni e Paolo Hospital, Venice, Italy

    A Semplicini

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  1. S Montagnese
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  2. S Schiff
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  3. A Realdi
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  9. P Amodio
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Correspondence to A Semplicini.

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Montagnese, S., Schiff, S., Realdi, A. et al. Abnormal cerebral electrogenesis is associated with impaired cognitive performance in hypertensive patients. J Hum Hypertens 27, 463–464 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2013.21

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