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Behavioral and neurophysiological study of attentional and inhibitory processes in ADHD-combined and control children

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Abstract

This study compares behavioral and electrophysiological (P300) responses recorded in a cued continuous performance task (CPT-AX) performed by children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder-combined subtype (ADHD-com) and age-matched healthy controls. P300 cognitive-evoked potentials and behavioral data were recorded in eight children with ADHD (without comorbidity) and nine control children aged 8–12 years while performing a CPT-AX task. Such task enables to examine several kinds of false alarms and three different kinds of P300 responses: the “Cue P300”, the “Go P300” and the “NoGo P300”, respectively, associated with preparatory processing/attentional orienting, motor/response execution and motor/response inhibition. Whereas hit rates were about 95 % in each group, ADHD children made significantly more false alarm responses (inattention- and inhibition-related) than control children. ADHD children had a marginally smaller Cue P300 than the control children. Behavioral and electrophysiological findings both highlighted inhibition and attention deficits in ADHD-com children in the CPT-AX task. A rarely studied kind of false alarm, the “Other” FA, seems to be a sensitive FA to take into account, even if its interpretation remains unclear.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by The Belgian Kid’s Fund to Simon Baijot. We thank Prof. Bernard Dan for his insightful comments on the manuscript. We also thank the Laboratory of Sensory and Cognitive Neurophysiology (Brugmann Hospital, Brussels) for welcoming the electrophysiological measures.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Paediatric Neurology, Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium

    S. Baijot & N. Deconinck

  2. Centre de Recherche Cognition et Neurosciences (CRCN), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium

    S. Baijot, H. Slama & C. Colin

  3. Cognitive Research Unit in Neurosciences (UNESCOG), Center for Research in Cognition and Neurosciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium

    S. Baijot, H. Slama & C. Colin

  4. Department of Clinical and Cognitive Neuropsychology, Erasme Hospital, Brussels, Belgium

    H. Slama & I. Massat

  5. Neuropsychology and Functional Neuroimaging Research Unit (UR2NF), Center for Research in Cognition and Neurosciences, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium

    H. Slama & I. Massat

  6. Laboratory of Experimental Neurology, Erasme Hospital, Brussels, Belgium

    I. Massat

  7. INSERM U894 Team 1, Centre de Psychiatrie et de Neurosciences (CPN), Paris, France

    I. Massat

  8. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, Robert Debre Hospital, Paris, France

    I. Massat

  9. Laboratory of Sensory and Cognitive Neurophysiology, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Brussels, Belgium

    C. Colin

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  1. S. Baijot
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Correspondence to S. Baijot.

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Baijot, S., Deconinck, N., Slama, H. et al. Behavioral and neurophysiological study of attentional and inhibitory processes in ADHD-combined and control children. Acta Neurol Belg 113, 477–485 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-013-0219-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-013-0219-1

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