Visuomotor Tracking Related to Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Abstract

Deficient visuomotor tracking in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has been described, but the specific influence of attention on this deficit has not yet been elucidated. The present study compares visuomotor tracking under different conditions of attentional loading in children with ADHD with that of age-matched controls. A computerized visuomotor attentional tracking test that incorporated several levels of distraction was administered to 131 typical children. The same test, as well as a standard Matching Familiar Figures Test and the Proteus Maze test, was administered to 32 children with ADHD and 21 control children. Significant differences between children with ADHD and controls in visuomotor attentional tracking indices that relate to pacing and the accuracy of the tracking movements were observed under all levels of distraction. In parallel, a significant performance decrement was observed in all subjects once distraction was introduced. Discriminant analysis, based on the visuomotor attentional tracking test findings, resulted in correct classification of 92.3% of the typical children and 46% of the children with ADHD. Significant correlations between Matching Familiar Figures Test latency, as well as errors and visuomotor attentional tracking indices, were noted among children with ADHD when the visuomotor attentional tracking did not involve distraction. Under distraction, these correlations extended to the control group as well. In conclusion, visuomotor tracking appears to reflect the availability of attentional resources in general and is significantly affected by the presence of ADHD in particular. These results have potential implications related to the evaluation of children with ADHD on and off drugs. (J Child Neurol 2006;21:502—507; DOI 10.2310/7010.2006.00135

Fine Motor Skills and Unsystematic Spatial Binding in the Common Region Test: Under-Inclusivity in Autism Spectrum Disorder and Over-Inclusivity in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

“…For children with ADHD we hypothesized that they would show a rather unsystematic approach to objects-region binding but would show no object-place binding. Also this hypothesis was fully confirmed, but we could find such Type II unsystematic coding also in (Tirosh, Perets-Dubrovsky, Davidovitch, & Hocherman, 2006).…”

Distractibility in Attention/Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): The Virtual Reality Classroom

“…Unfortunately, the few studies that have addressed distractibility in ADHD have reported inconsistent results, such that sometimes children with ADHD appear to be more negatively affected by distracters than healthy controls (Barkley, Koplowitz, Anderson, & McMurray, 1997;Brodeur & Pond, 2001;Radosh & Gittelman, 1981), sometimes they are reported to perform better (Tirosh, Perets-Dubrovsky, Davidovitch, & Hocherman, 2006;van Mourik et al, 2007), and sometimes there is no difference (West et al, 2000). Given both the paucity of research in this area and the heterogeneity of findings, it is hard to know a priori which distracter attributes will be most effective in reproducing the distractibility these children manifest in real life.…”

Comorbid Externalising Behaviour in AD/HD: Evidence for a Distinct Pathological Entity in Adolescence

“…Factor 2 was wholly comprised of variables from the Executive Maze task with 3 variables possessing factor loadings >0.7 (Preservative Errors, Non-Preservative Errors, and Time per Trial), suggestive of deficits in visuo-spatial abilities as previously identified in AD/HD [43] , [49] and AD/HD+ODD/CD [50] cohorts.…”