Frontal Beta Activity in the Meta-Intention of Children With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Abstract

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have high theta and low beta activity in the frontal lobe. The higher the theta/beta ratio, the lower the level of central nervous system (CNS) cortical arousal. However, there is seldom evidence between electroencephalograms (EEGs) and the patient’s intentionality to regulate the cortical activity of executive attention tasks. We investigated whether children with ADHD intended to improve their performance in executive attention tasks and whether that increased their brain activity. Fifty-one children with ADHD (ADHD) and 51 typical developing (TD) children were investigated using focused attention (FA) and search attention (SA) tasks and a simultaneous EEG. The children were then regrouped as faster (ADHD-F, TD-F) and slower (ADHD-S, TD-S) depending on reaction time (RT). Quantitative EEGs of frontal lobe theta and beta activity at frontal F3, F4, and Fz were used. Twenty-eight (54.9%) ADHD children were regrouped as ADHD-S and 14 (27.5%) as TD-S. The ADHD-S group, however, had poorer FA and SA performance than the other 3 groups did: fewer correct answers, more frequent impulsive and missing errors, and higher RT variations. There were no significant differences in theta activity, but the TD-S group had higher beta activity than the ADHD-S group did. We conclude that the ADHD-F and ADHD-S groups had different attention processes. beta activity did not increase in the ADHD-S group, and their executive attention performance in the FA and SA tests was poor. It seems ADHD-S had poor meta-intention function. The frontal beta activity might be a feasible training target of neurofeedback in ADHD-S patients.

Neurofeedback Training Protocol Based on Selecting Distinctive Features to Treat or Reduce ADHD Symptoms

“…5,19 Several studies have also reported no significant differences in TBR between healthy and ADHD people. 5,20,21 There are even several investigations reporting higher TBR in healthy cases compared with those affected with ADHD. 6,10,[22][23][24][25][26] This result indicates that TBR has grown rapidly in healthy people in recent years.…”

Effects of Twenty Hours of Neurofeedback-Based Neuropsychotherapy on the Executive Functions and Achievements among ADHD Children

“…However,the EXP maintained their mental effort when dealing with attention tasks at the post-test, while the CON did not. 19 The results still show the feasibility of this training location. 56 (2)At the neurophysiological and neuropsychological level,Thompson & Thompson 57 and Fuchs et al 58 pointed out that neurofeedback can improve distracted and impulsive indicators of multi-dimensional attention tests to increase processing speed and reduce instability, that increased the accuracy rate of multilevel attention abilities and improved EF related to the prefrontal lobe.…”

“…The CON showed more TBR while doing the tasks, which might mean that the CON could not maintain the cortical arousal in the post-test. 7,13,19 The neuropsychological level results showed that WWNF could enhance sensory selection and attention control accuracy in the Go/No-Go subtests, increase cognitive flexibility by decreasing preservation errors, and increase concept formation and planning abilities. From the parents’ view of behavioral symptoms and functions, WWNF training reduced ADHD symptoms, especially the large effect of inattention symptoms.…”

“…The second step began after a 20-minute break with refreshments. The children had to take a CNAT 36 in a noise-proof room with simultaneous EEG recording; the protocol was the same as Liao et al 19…”

Interactive Model of Executive Functions to Understand Error Correction

“…At the neurofunctional level, the role of the left premotor cortex has been described in the ability for conscious correction of an error with both hands [24]. Finally, there have been several case reports at the level of stimulation in favor of error correction, including the greater implication of auditory sensory information over visual information when an individual must correct an error [25] and the importance of visual feedback in the error correction ability [26][27][28].…”