No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Continuous Performance Tests (CPTs) are used in research and clinical contexts to measure sustained attention and response inhibition. Reliability and validity of a new Online Continuous Performance Test (OCPT) was assessed. The OCPT is designed for delivery over the Internet, thereby opening new opportunities for research and clinical application in naturalistic settings. In Study 1, participants completed the OCPT twice over a 1-week period. One test was taken at home and one in the laboratory. Construct validity was assessed against a gold standard CPT measure. Results indicate acceptable reliability between the home- and laboratory-administered tests. Modest to high correlations were observed between the OCPT scales and the corresponding scales of the gold standard CPT. Study 2 examined whether the OCPT may discriminate participants with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder from healthy controls. Results revealed significantly higher rates of omission and commission errors and greater response time variability in participants with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder relative to healthy controls. These results support the reliability and validity of the OCPT and suggest that it may serve as an effective tool for the assessment of attention function in naturalistic settings.

The findings of this study suggest that TA, well known to affect success on tests, is correlated with ADHD. Therefore, interventions for ADHD should include components aimed at reducing TA.

Environmental and situational factors are important determinants of recreational drug use in humans. We aimed to develop a reliable animal model for studying the effects of environmental variables on drug-seeking behavior using the 'social isolation/social restriction' paradigm. Adult Wistar rats housed in short-term isolation (21 days) consumed significantly more morphine solution (0.5 mg/ml) than rats living in pairs, both in one-bottle and in two-bottle tests. No differences were found in their water consumption. This effect was observed in both males and females and the results were also replicated after reversal of housing conditions. We also found that as little as 60-min of daily social-physical interaction with another rat was sufficient to completely abolish the increase in morphine consumption in socially restricted animals. We discuss some possible interpretations for these effects. These results indicate that environmental and situational factors influence drug intake in laboratory rats as they do in humans, and thus may be of interest in studying drug-seeking behavior in humans.

No abstract

The current results provide indication of modulation of face processing in adults with ADHD. ERP alterations, reflected in abnormally reduced P3 and N3 to face targets, may suggest ADHD-related abnormal recruitment of neural resources to process face stimuli. Behavioral and brain function measures of face processing may provide valuable additional tools for use in clinical assessment of ADHD in adulthood.