Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess how young adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) process audiovisual (AV) multisensory stimuli using behavioral and neurological measures. Adults with a clinical diagnosis of ADHD (n = 10) and neurotypical controls (n = 11) completed a simple response time task, consisting of auditory, visual, and AV multisensory conditions. Continuous 64-electrode electroencephalography (EEG) was collected to assess neurological responses to each condition. The AV multisensory condition resulted in the shortest response times for both populations. Analysis using the race model (Miller, 1982) demonstrated that those with ADHD had violation of the race model earlier in the response, which may be a marker for impulsivity. EEG analysis revealed that both groups had early multisensory integration (MSI) occur following multisensory stimulus onset. There were also significant group differences in event-related potentials (ERPs) in frontal, parietal, and occipital brain regions, which are regions reported to be altered in those with ADHD. This study presents results examining multisensory processing in the population of adults with ADHD, and can be used as a foundation for future ADHD research using developmental research designs as well as the development of novel technological supports.
Highlights
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder
The sum waveform was more negative than the multisensory waveform, and the controls had significantly more negative activity than the attentiondeficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) group. These findings indicate that while multisensory integration (MSI) occurred in both groups at this time and region, the event-related potentials (ERPs) pattern was different in each group
This is an important area of inquiry, as multisensory processing is fundamental to optimal human sensory functioning, and alterations to this neurological process may be related to some of the well-known behavioral characteristics of ADHD
Summary
Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder. The most common symptoms associated with a diagnosis of ADHD are hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattention (Visser et al, 2014). These symptoms typically arise during childhood, with approximately 11% of children receiving a diagnosis of ADHD (Visser et al, 2014). ADHD is often associated with being a predominately childhood disorder, it is commonly present in the adult population (Wilens et al, 2004). Of the children diagnosed with ADHD, approximately 50% will have symptoms persist into adulthood (Sadock et al, 2000). The diagnosis of ADHD is based on behavioral characteristics, neurological characteristics have been reported
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