Abstract
Simple SummaryMost studies on ADHD have been focused on the comparisons between healthy subjects and clinical patients. The dimensional approaches propose that the main pathological behavioral domains are distributed in the normal population and not only in individual categories of people (as assumed in traditional schemes of comparisons between patients and controls). In the current study, we used a similar approach to identify potential markers of ADHD by studying the EEG dynamics of healthy children with a natural variability in hyperactivity and inattention scores during performance of the Stop-Signal task. We found that hyperactivity/inattention scores were positively associated with RT variability. Hyperactivity/inattention scores were negatively associated with an increase in beta spectral power in the first 200 ms and positively associated with an increase in theta rhythm at about 300 ms after presentation of the Go stimulus. It has been hypothesized that such results imply insufficient vigilance in the early stages of perception and subsequent compensatory enhancing of attention to the stimulus in children with higher hyperactivity and inattention scores.In the current study, we aimed to investigate the associations between the natural variability in hyperactivity and inattention scores, as well as their combination with EEG oscillatory responses in the Stop-Signal task in a sample of healthy children. During performance, the Stop-Signal task EEGs were recorded in 94 Caucasian children (40 girls) from 7 to 10 years. Hyperactivity/inattention and inattention scores positively correlated with RT variability. Hyperactivity/inattention and inattention scores negatively correlated with an increase in beta spectral power in the first 200 ms after presentation of the Go stimulus. Such results are in line with the lack of arousal model in ADHD children and can be associated with less sensory arousal in the early stages of perception in children with symptoms of inattention. The subsequent greater increase in theta rhythm at about 300 ms after presentation of the Go stimulus in children with higher inattention scores may be associated with increased attention processes and compensation for insufficient vigilance in the early stages of perception.
Highlights
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized as excessive physical activity that is often combined with impaired attention
Hyperactivity/inattention and inattention scores negatively correlated with an increase in beta spectral power in the first 200 ms after presentation of the Go stimulus
This was probably associated with less sensory arousal in the early stages of perception in children with symptoms of inattention
Summary
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized as excessive physical activity that is often combined with impaired attention. Symptoms of ADHD begin in childhood and may persist into adulthood; they are more commonly diagnosed in boys than in girls. There are three subtypes of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: primarily hyperactive and impulsive, primarily inattentive, and combined [1]. Most of the research on the electrocortical activity of ADHD in children has been conducted using the ERP (event-related potential) method, which is an important tool for evaluating information processing in both normal and pathological conditions. ERP studies have revealed differences between ADHD subjects and control groups in neural processing associated with automatic early attention processes.
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