Gently restless: association of ADHD-like traits with response inhibition and interference control

Abstract

Impairment of inhibition-related functions is one of the most pronounced cognitive deficits found in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Compelling evidence from studies of unaffected relatives of patients with ADHD and of ADHD-like traits in healthy subjects suggest the continuous distribution of ADHD symptoms in the population. A more subtle inhibitory deficit can also be found in healthy relatives of patients and in subjects with high ADHD-like traits. Here, we examined the relationship between inhibitory performance and ADHD-like traits, for the first time, in a large sample of healthy adults by applying multiple, widely used tests of inhibition-related functions. ADHD-like traits, in general, were independently predicted by Stroop interference score and, at trend level, by go/no-go commission error rate while controlling for socio-demographic factors, verbal intelligence and neuroticism. Additionally, higher inattentive traits were related to worse Stroop performance at trend level, and higher hyperactive/impulsive traits were significantly associated with more go/no-go commission errors. ADHD-like traits were strongly related to neuroticism. The study shows that individual differences in ADHD-like traits are related to variance in fundamental inhibition-related functions over and above effects of negative affect regulation, but the relationships tend to be small. The results suggest the quasi-dimensionality of ADHD and raise further questions about the relationship between genetic factors and the deficit of inhibition-related functions in the ADHD spectrum.

Shared and differentiated motor skill impairments in children with dyslexia and/or attention deficit disorder: From simple to complex sequential coordination

“…They were slower than their controls and dyslexic children, and motor perseveration was more often seen compared to control, dyslexic and comorbid children. The latter type of error (tapping on the same plate twice) might be representative of difficulty inhibiting automatic responses which is a widely reported primary symptom associated with AD children [65, 68, 92]. This disinhibition is in line with Barkley’s hypothesis suggesting fragile inhibition control in AD populations.…”

COMT and DAT1 genes are associated with hyperactivity and inattention traits in the 1993 Pelotas Birth Cohort: evidence of sex-specific combined effect

“…4 A study on inhibition, an executive function whose impairments are part of the cognitive deficits seen in individuals with ADHD, demonstrated that performance on inhibition-related tasks were positively associated with ADHD-like traits in a large sample of healthy adults who did not have a first-degree relative with ADHD. 5 The heritability estimates for ADHD are essentially the same for both continuous and categorical approaches, consistent with a dimensional view of ADHD and a strong genetic component. [1][2][3]6 Based on the normal distribution of ADHD traits in the general population, the identification and understanding of ADHD susceptibility genes may bene fit from studies of this dimensional characteristic of ADHD in nonclinical samples.…”

Response inhibition and interference control: Effects of schizophrenia, genetic risk, and schizotypy

“…Immediately before the experimental sessions, participants completed practice trials during which the experimenter ensured that instructions had been understood. The tasks are described in detail elsewhere (Aichert et al ., ; Polner, Aichert, Macare, Costa, & Ettinger, ).…”