Abstract
Disinhibition is a common sign among children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The present study examined the effect of computerized eye-tracking training to improve inhibitory control in ADHD children. Thirty-two ADHD children (mean age = 8.4 years) were recruited. Half of the participants underwent 240 min of eye-tracking training over two weeks (i.e., experimental group), while the other half did not receive any training (i.e., control group). After training, the experimental group exhibited significant improvements in neuropsychological tests of inhibition, such as faster reaction time in the incongruent condition of the Flanker test, more unique designs in the Category Fluency and Five-Point Tests, and a faster completion time in Trail 2 of the Children’s Color Trail Test. The control group did not show significant changes in any of these tests. Our findings support the use of eye-tracking training to improve the inhibitory control of ADHD children.
Highlights
Inhibitory control is the ability to resist distractor interference and cancel irrelevant responses [1], and poor inhibitory control is one of the common cognitive deficits observed in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
No significant change was found for accuracy in the congruent condition in either the experimental (t(15) = 0.76, p = 0.46, d = 0.19) or the control group (t(15) = 0.71, p = 0.49, d = 0.18). These findings show that only ADHD children who received the eye-tracking training exhibited specific improvement in inhibitory control, indicated by a significant improvement in the inhibitory control index
Consistent with the Flanker Test results, these results indicate that only ADHD children who underwent the eye-tracking training exhibited specific improvement in inhibitory control
Summary
Inhibitory control is the ability to resist distractor interference and cancel irrelevant responses [1], and poor inhibitory control is one of the common cognitive deficits observed in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The eye-tracking technique has been developed since the 1950s, and involves the use of a device that can measure eye movement. This technique has a long history as a research tool and recently has been suggested for clinical application. The clinical application of eye-tracking to date has focused on the diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders, such as dementia of Alzheimer’s type [5,6] and ADHD [7,8]. Little is known about the possibility of using an eye-tracking system for cognitive training [9]
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