Attentional Selection and Suppression in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Encong Wang; Li Sun; Meirong Sun; Jing Huang; Ye Tao; Xixi Zhao; Zhanliang Wu; Yulong Ding; Daniel P Newman; Mark A Bellgrove; Yufeng Wang; Yan Song

doi:10.1016/j.bpsc.2016.01.004

Attentional Selection and Suppression in Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2016 Jul;1(4):372-380. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2016.01.004. Epub 2016 Jan 30.

Authors

Encong Wang¹, Li Sun², Meirong Sun³, Jing Huang³, Ye Tao³, Xixi Zhao⁴, Zhanliang Wu², Yulong Ding⁵, Daniel P Newman⁶, Mark A Bellgrove⁶, Yufeng Wang², Yan Song⁷

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China; Peking University Sixth Hospital/Institute of Mental Health; Beijing, China.
² Peking University Sixth Hospital/Institute of Mental Health; Beijing, China; Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Ministry of Health (Peking University), Beijing, China.
³ State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China.
⁴ Peking University Sixth Hospital/Institute of Mental Health; Beijing, China.
⁵ Brain and Cognition Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
⁶ School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
⁷ State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning and IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China; Center for Collaboration and Innovation in Brain and Learning Sciences, Beijing Normal University;Beijing, China. Electronic address: songyan@bnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 29560866
DOI: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2016.01.004

Abstract

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder with prominent impairments in directing and sustaining attention. The aim of this study was to identify the neurophysiologic bases of attention deficits in ADHD, focusing on electroencephalography markers of attentional selection (posterior contralateral N2 [N2pc]) and suppression (distractor positivity [P_D]).

Methods: The electroencephalography data were collected from 135 children 9-15 years old with and without ADHD while they searched for a shape target in either the absence (experiment 1) or the presence (experiment 2) of a salient but irrelevant color distractor.

Results: In experiment 1, the shape target elicited a smaller N2pc in children with ADHD (n = 38) compared with typically developing children (n = 36). The smaller N2pc amplitude predicted higher levels of inattentive symptoms in children with ADHD. Moreover, the target-elicited N2pc was followed by a positivity in typically developing children but not in children with ADHD. In experiment 2, the salient but irrelevant color distractor elicited a smaller P_D component in children with ADHD (n = 32) compared with typically developing children (n = 29). The smaller P_D predicted higher inattentive symptom severity as well as lower behavioral accuracy in children with ADHD.

Conclusions: The correlation between N2pc/P_D amplitudes and ADHD symptom severity suggests that these signals of attentional selection and suppression may serve as potential candidates for neurophysiologic markers of ADHD. Our findings provide a neurophysiologic basis for the subjective reports of attention deficits in children with ADHD and highlight the importance of spatial attention impairments in ADHD.

Keywords: ADHD; Electroencephalography; N2pc; P(D); Selection; Suppression.