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Behavioral correlates of reaction time variability in children with and without ADHD.

ABSTRACT: Reaction time (RT) variability is often purported to indicate behavioral attention. This study seeks to examine whether RT variability in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with observed behavioral indicators of attention.One-hundred 47 participants with and without ADHD completed five computerized neuropsychological tasks and an analog math task. Linear mixed models were utilized to examine the relationship between observations of behavioral inattention during the analog task and measures of RT variability from the neuropsychological tasks.Significant associations were observed between RT variability and mean duration of on-task behavior on the analog math task. Secondary analyses indicated that on-task behavior during the math task was also related to accuracy on the neuropsychological tasks.RT variability, especially the portion of RT variability characterized by long RTs, appears to measure a cognitive phenomenon that relates to successful on-task academic behavior across children with and without ADHD. The relationship between RT variability and on-task behavior is present across multiple neuropsychological tasks and does not appear to be moderated by age, sex, or the presence of anxiety or depression.

SUBMITTER: Antonini TN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3620696 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Behavioral correlates of reaction time variability in children with and without ADHD.

Antonini Tanya N TN Narad Megan E ME Langberg Joshua M JM Epstein Jeffery N JN

Neuropsychology 20130301 2

<h4>Objective</h4>Reaction time (RT) variability is often purported to indicate behavioral attention. This study seeks to examine whether RT variability in children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is associated with observed behavioral indicators of attention.<h4>Method</h4>One-hundred 47 participants with and without ADHD completed five computerized neuropsychological tasks and an analog math task. Linear mixed models were utilized to examine the relationship between observ ...[more]

PMID: 23527648

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Project description:Error processing is reflected, behaviorally, by slower reaction times (RT) on trials immediately following an error (post-error). Children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) fail to show RT slowing and demonstrate increased intra-subject variability (ISV) on post-error trials. The neural correlates of these behavioral deficits remain unclear. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and lateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) are key regions implicated in error processing and subsequent behavioral adjustment. We hypothesized that children with ADHD, compared to typically developing (TD) controls, would exhibit reduced PFC activation during post-error (versus post-correct inhibition) trials and reduced dACC activation during error (versus correct inhibition) trials.Using functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and a Go/No-Go task, we analyzed the neural correlates of error processing in 13 children with ADHD and 17 TD children.Behaviorally, children with ADHD showed similar RT slowing but increased ISV compared to controls. The post-error contrast revealed a relative increase in blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal in the middle/inferior temporal cortex (TempC), the ACC/supplementary motor area (SMA) and the somatosensory/auditory cortex (AudC) in children with ADHD compared to controls. Importantly, in the ADHD group, increased post-error temporal cortex activity was associated with lower ISV. During error (versus correct inhibition) trials, no between-group differences were detected. However, in children with ADHD lower ISV was associated with decreased insula and increased precentral gyrus activity.In children with ADHD, post-error neural activity suggests, first, a shift of attention towards task-irrelevant stimuli (AudC), and second, a recruitment of compensatory regions that resolve stimulus conflict (TempC) and improve response selection/execution (ACC/SMA). ADHD children with higher temporal cortex activation showed lower ISV, suggesting that functional abnormalities in the compensatory temporal regions contribute to increased variability. Moreover, increased ISV may be related to an over-sensitivity to negative outcomes during error trials in ADHD (insula correlation).

Project description:This study investigated the association between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptomatology in preschool-aged children who were born very preterm (<33 weeks) and cognitive outcomes, clinical risk and socio-demographic characteristics. 119 very preterm children who participated in the Evaluation of Preterm Imaging Study at term-equivalent age were assessed at a mean age of 4.5 years. Parents completed the ADHD Rating Scale IV, a norm-referenced checklist that evaluates ADHD symptomatology according to diagnostic criteria, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool version. Children completed the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scales of Intelligence and the Forward Digit Span task. Longitudinal data including perinatal clinical, qualitative MRI classification, socio-demographic variables and neurodevelopmental disabilities were investigated in relation to ADHD symptomatology. All results were corrected for multiple comparisons using false discovery rate. Results showed that although the proportion of very preterm children with clinically significant ADHD did not differ from normative data after excluding those with neurodevelopmental disabilities, 32.7% met criteria for subthreshold ADHD inattentive type and 33.6% for combined type, which was higher than the expected 20% in normative samples. Higher ADHD symptom scores (all) were associated with greater executive dysfunction (inhibitory self-control, flexibility, and emergent metacognition, corrected p<0.001 for all tests). Higher inattentive ADHD symptom scores were associated with lower IQ (? = -0.245, p = 0.011) and higher perinatal clinical risk (more days on mechanical ventilation (? = 0.196, p = 0.032) and more days on parenteral nutrition (? = 0.222, p = 0.015). Higher hyperactive ADHD symptom scores instead were associated with lower socio-economic status (? = 0.259, p = 0.004). These results highlight the importance of monitoring and supporting the development of very preterm children throughout the school years, as subthreshold ADHD symptoms represent risk factors for psychosocial problems and for receiving a future clinical diagnosis of ADHD.

Dataset Information

Behavioral correlates of reaction time variability in children with and without ADHD.

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Behavioral correlates of reaction time variability in children with and without ADHD.

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