Confirmation of an Inhibitory Control Deficit in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Author/s: Russell Schachar
Issue: June, 2000

The objective of this study was to determine whether deficient inhibitory control distinguishes children with a diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity (ADHD) disorder, conduct disorder (CD), and comorbid ADHD + CD from normally developing children.

Participants were rigorously diagnosed children (age 7 to 12 years) with ADHD (N = 72), CD (N = 13) or ADHD + CD (N = 47) and 33 control children (NC). We studied inhibitory control using the stop-signal paradigm, a laboratory task that assessed the ability to inhibit an ongoing action. Read more of the article...

Task Switching and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.

Author/s: Nicholas J. Cepeda Issue: June, 2000

The main goal of the present set of studies was to examine the efficiency of executive control processes and, more specifically, the control processes involved in task set inhibition and preparation to perform a new task in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and non-ADHD children.

This was accomplished by having ADHD children, both on and off medication, and non-ADHD children perform the task-switching paradigm, which involves the performance of two simple tasks. Read more of the article...

Naming Speed Performance and Stimulant Effects Indicate Effortful, Semantic Processing Deficits in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Author/s: Rosemary Tannock Issue: June, 2000
Rosemary Tannock [1,2] Rhonda Martinussen [1] Jan Frijters [1]

This study investigated rapid automatized naming and effects of stimulant medication in school-age children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with and without concurrent reading disorder (RD). Read more of the article...

Attentional difficulties in hyperactive and conduct-disordered children: a processing deficit.

J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1994 Oct;35(7):1229-45
Leung PW, Connolly KJ
Department of Psychology,
Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, New Territories.

A random population sample of 1479 Chinese boys from Hong Kong was screened and diagnosed in a two-stage epidemiological study. Four groups, age 7-8, were distinguished: (1) a pure hyperactive group (HA), (2) a mixed hyperactive/conduct-disordered group (HA+CD), (3) a pure conduct-disordered group (CD), and (4) a normal control group (N).

On a visual search task, only the pure hyperactive (HA) children showed a specific processing deficit in performance. Read more of the article...

Establishing an EEG Norm-Base for ADD v. non-ADD

Review of a journal article by Troy Janzen, Ken Graap, Stephan Stephanson, Wilma Marshall, and George Fitzsimmons
"Differences in Baseline EEG Measures for ADD and Normally Achieving Preadolescent Males"
Biofeedback and Self-Regulation, Vol. 20, No. 1, 1995, pp. 65-82.

Three well known tests (WISC-R, WRMT-R, WRAT-R) were administered to all subjects prior to the main part of the study, a series of cognitive tests performed while connected to a 19 lead EEG cap. Read more of the article...

Neuropsychiatric and neuropsychological findings in conduct disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 1994 Summer;6(3):245-9
Aronowitz B, Liebowitz M, Hollander E, Fazzini E, Durlach-Misteli C, Frenkel M, Mosovich S, Garfinkel R, Saoud J, DelBene D, et al
Department of Psychiatry,
New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York.

Neuropsychiatric and neuropsychological evaluations were performed in a pilot study of adolescents with DSM-III-R disruptive behavior disorders, including conduct disorder (CD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The following comparisons were made: 1) CD comorbid with ADHD vs. CD only; 2) all subjects with ADHD vs. all non-ADHD; and 3) all subjects with CD vs. all non-CD. Read more of the article...

Quantitative EEG and Auditory Event-Related Potentials in the Evaluation of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Effects of Methylphenidate and Implications for Neurofeedback Training

J. F. Lubar, M. O. Swartwood, J. N. Swartwood, D. L. Timmermann
University of Tennessee

Neurophysiological correlates of Attention Deficit Disorder with and without Hyperactivity (AD/HD) and effects of methylphenidate are explored using electroencephalographic (EEG) and auditory eventrelated potentials (ERPs).

In the first of four studies, a database of AD/HD individuals of varying ages and matched adolescent/adult controls is presented.

Study 2 compares controls and age-matched children with ADD, and children with ADHD on and off methylphenidate. Read more of the article...

Executive functions and developmental psychopathology.

J Child Psychol Psychiatry 1996 Jan;37(1):51-87
Pennington BF, Ozonoff S
Department of Psychology, University of Denver, CO 80208, USA.

In this paper, we consider the domain of executive functions (EFs) and their possible role in developmental psychopathologies.

We first consider general theoretical and measurement issues involved in studying EFs and then review studies of EFs in four developmental psychopathologies: attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder (CD), autism, and Tourette syndrome (TS).

Our review reveals that EF deficits are consistently found in both ADHD and autism but not in CD (without ADHD) or in TS. Read more of the article...