Economical Assessment of Working Memory and Response Inhibition in ADHD Using a Combined n-back/Nogo Paradigm: An ERP Study

Abstract

The development of cognitive interventions in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often requires the assessment of multiple cognitive functions. However, experimental settings consisting of various tasks are particularly strenuous for patients and can thus result in poor data quality. For the economical assessment of working memory and response inhibition, this study aims to validate a combined n-back/nogo paradigm by comparing it to single task versions and to demonstrate its applicability for ADHD research. Twenty-five healthy individuals and 34 ADHD patients between 9 and 16 years participated in this event-related potential (ERP) study. Healthy controls underwent single task versions of a 2-back working memory task and a go/nogo response inhibition task as well as the introduced combined 2-back/nogo task. This combined task demonstrated a comparable ERP structure for working memory and response inhibition aspects as single task versions. Behaviorally, higher working memory performance during the combined paradigm indicated lower task difficulty, while high correlations between combined and single task versions still indicated valid working memory measures. For response inhibition performance, different task versions resulted in similar outcomes. The application of the combined n-back/nogo paradigm in ADHD patients revealed the expected working memory and response inhibition deficits, increased omission errors, reaction times, and standard deviation of reaction time, as well as diminished n-back P3 and nogo P3 amplitudes. We conclude that the combined n-back/nogo task is an effective paradigm for the economical assessment of working memory and response inhibition deficits in ADHD on a behavioral and neurophysiological level.

Dilud: A Mobile Application to Reinforce Rote Learning in Elementary School Children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“…While the N-Back Task method, used by [7] [15] and [16] in their research works, focuses on the development of individual exercises to reinforce memory and concentration that involve repetitive activities to measure their performance. Such is the case of Breitling [16], which used the method to validate its efficiency with two groups of children with ADHD. Authors concluded that the N-Back Task serves to measure the memory level of a person as well as improve its performance.…”

“…From the literature, 90% of the articles had in common the use of gamification in developing their research to improve children's memory. Among these, we can highlight the N-Back Task, which measures and reinforces children's visual motor memory, concentration, and intelligence [16]. However, compared with the TCT method, the N-Back Task focuses on just one kind of game, while the TCT allows a wider variety of games to be used depending on the cognitive area they want to improve or reinforce.…”

Effects of Audiovisual Interactions on Working Memory Task Performance—Interference or Facilitation

“…The performance related to visual working memory was calculated as the percentage of correct hits (hits on target-falsely reported nontarget), with larger values indicating better performance. The performance related to auditory working memory was inversely proportional to the NoGo commission error rate (100%-NoGo stimulus false alarm rate), with larger values indicating better performance [ 54 ]. Finally, the size of an effect (SE), r pb 2 = t 2 /( t 2 + df ) was used to test the effects of audiovisual interactions on working memory.…”

Topographical distribution of the human brain to Plukenetia volubilis-based omega-3,6,9 enriched egg consumption

“…According to this study, ADHD patients reported lower n-back and nogo P3 amplitudes, increased omission mistakes, and reaction times. Memory tasks and response control impairments in ADHD patients can be assessed using the n-back/nogo task [47].…”