ERP Correlates of Proactive and Reactive Cognitive Control in Treatment-Naïve Adult ADHD

Abstract

This study investigated whether treatment naïve adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD; n = 33; 19 female) differed from healthy controls (n = 31; 17 female) in behavioral performance, event-related potential (ERP) indices of preparatory attention (CueP3 and late CNV), and reactive response control (Go P3, NoGo N2, and NoGo P3) derived from a visual cued Go/NoGo task. On several critical measures, Cue P3, late CNV, and NoGo N2, there were no significant differences between the groups. This indicated normal preparatory processes and conflict monitoring in ADHD patients. However, the patients had attenuated Go P3 and NoGoP3 amplitudes relative to controls, suggesting reduced allocation of attentional resources to processes involved in response control. The patients also had a higher rate of Go signal omission errors, but no other performance decrements compared with controls. Reduced Go P3 and NoGo P3 amplitudes were associated with poorer task performance, particularly in the ADHD group. Notably, the ERPs were not associated with self-reported mood or anxiety. The results provide electrophysiological evidence for reduced effortful engagement of attentional resources to both Go and NoGo signals when reactive response control is needed. The absence of group differences in ERP components indexing proactive control points to impairments in specific aspects of cognitive processes in an untreated adult ADHD cohort. The associations between ERPs and task performance provided additional support for the altered electrophysiological responses.

Significance of Beta-Band Oscillations in Autism Spectrum Disorders During Motor Response Inhibition Tasks: A MEG Study

“…highly related phasic (within-trial) oscillations. Similar deviations are apparently involved in ADHD, as Grane et al (2016) report attenuated attentional resource allocation in response to reactive control during a Go/NoGo task in an ADHD sample. Findings on cognitive control modes in ASD are largely lacking (see Lever et al 2016), though preliminary research corroborates the present suggestions.…”

Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS) as a Tool to Modulate P300 Amplitude in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Preliminary Findings

“…ADHD patients have been consistently reported to show a reduction in P300 amplitude as compared to healthy controls. This alteration of P300 was obtained in ADHD children (Gow et al 2012;Johnstone and Barry 1996;Senderecka et al 2012;Strandburg et al 1996;Tsai et al 2012), as well as in ADHD adults (Grane et al 2016;Hasler et al 2016;Itagaki et al 2011;Woltering et al 2013; see Szuromi et al 2011 for a meta-analysis), while patients were performing oddball and similar cognitive tasks.…”

Impact of early childhood malnutrition on the adult brain function: an ERP study

“…Omission errors are usually attributed to impairments in attention and vigilance whereas commission errors are associated with inhibition deficits. Therefore, early childhood malnutrition may be associated with diminished attention and vigilance rather than altered inhibition skills (Doehnert et al, 2013;Grane et al, 2016;McLoughlin et al, 2010;Valko et al, 2009). Furthermore, no differences in reaction times were found between our groups.…”

“…In a Go-No-Go task, two ERPs components are typically studied, namely the N2 and P3 components. N2 is defined as the largest fronto-central negative polarity deflection between 200 and 450ms and P3 is defined as the largest fronto-central positive polarity deflection between 350 and 600ms (Grane et al, 2016;McLoughlin et al, 2010;Schmüser et al, 2016;Woltering et al, 2013). N2 and P3 are respectively associated with conflict monitoring (i.e.…”

“…cancellation of a planned or prepotent response) processes in an inhibition control task such as Go-No-Go, Stop signal, Stroop or Flanker task Smith et al, 2008). Those components have been widely studied, notably in samples with ADHD (Grane et al, 2016;Johnstone et al, 2013;McLoughlin et al, 2010;Schmüser et al, 2016;Woltering et al, 2013) and are thought to be altered in individuals with attention and executive deficits. In the current study, we hypothesised that the PEM group will show smaller N2 and P3 component amplitudes compared to the healthy control group.…”