Deficits in visuo-spatial working memory, inhibition and oculomotor control in boys with ADHD and their non-affected brothers

Abstract

Summary. Few studies have assessed visuo-spatial working memory and inhibition in attention-deficit=hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by recording saccades and consequently little additional knowledge has been gathered on oculomotor functioning in ADHD. Moreover, this is the first study to report the performance of non-affected siblings of children with ADHD, which may shed light on the familiality of deficits. A total of 14 boys with ADHD, 18 non-affected brothers, and 15 control boys aged 7-14 years, were administered a memory-guided saccade task with delays of three and seven seconds. Familial deficits were found in accuracy of visuospatial working memory, percentage of anticipatory saccades, and tendency to overshoot saccades relative to controls. These findings suggest memory-guided saccade deficits may relate to a familial predisposition for ADHD.

Implicación de la memoria visoespacial y fonológica en la heterogeneidad clínica del Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad (TDAH)

“…In this regard, Brocki, Rendall, Bohlin, and Kerns (2008) imply a higher deficit in phonological WM in ADHD, as previous studies suggest ( . However, other studies hint that the deficiencies lie in the visuospatial WM (Martinussen et al, 2005;McInnes, Humphries, HoggJohnson, & Tannock, 2003;Rapport et al, 2008;Rommelse et al, 2008;Westerberg, Hirvikoski, Forssberg, & Klingberg, 2004;Willcutt et al, 2005). A third group of investigations point at a more generalised WM decay, a central executive deficit Dovis, Van der Oord, Wiers, & Prins, 2013;Nyman et al, 2010;van Ewijk et al, 2014).…”

Altered Frontal and Temporal Brain Function during Olfactory Stimulation in Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

“…The main focus of neuroimaging and neuropsychological ADHD research is on higher cognitive functions although there is some evidence for disturbance of more basal functions such as speed of information processing [4] , motor function [5] , and olfactory functioning [6][7][8][9] . Recently we found improved odour sensitivity in children with ADHD [9] .…”

Antisaccade performance in Korsakoff patients reveals deficits in oculomotor inhibition

“…After a certain delay, the participant then has to execute a saccade to the memorized location. In this task, the interval is longer than the interval in the present study (250 ms vs. 3,000 ms; e.g., Rommelse, Van der Stigchel, Witlox, et al, 2008). It is therefore possible that the use of a longer interval might have resulted in a difference between the patient and the control group.…”

“…Although this type of error has been linked to failures in oculomotor inhibition (Mostofsky, Lasker, Cutting, Denckla, & Zee, 2001;Rommelse, Van der Stigchel, Witlox, et al, 2008), these findings have been observed in a different task from the one current employed-namely, the memoryguided saccade task. In this task, the participant is not allowed to make a saccade towards the target but has to remember the location of the target.…”