Happé Francesca, Booth Rhonda, Charlton Rebecca, Hughes Claire
MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, UK.
Brain Cogn. 2006 Jun;61(1):25-39. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2006.03.004. Epub 2006 May 6.
Deficits in 'executive function' (EF) are characteristic of several clinical disorders, most notably Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In this study, age- and IQ-matched groups with ASD, ADHD, or typical development (TD) were compared on a battery of EF tasks tapping three core domains: response selection/inhibition, flexibility, and planning/working memory. Relations between EF, age and everyday difficulties (rated by parents and teachers) were also examined. Both clinical groups showed significant EF impairments compared with TD peers. The ADHD group showed greater inhibitory problems on a Go-no-Go task, while the ASD group was significantly worse on response selection/monitoring in a cognitive estimates task. Age-related improvements were clearer in ASD and TD than in ADHD. At older (but not younger) ages, the ASD group outperformed the ADHD group, performing as well as the TD group on many EF measures. EF scores were related to specific aspects of communicative and social adaptation, and negatively correlated with hyperactivity in ASD and TD. Within the present groups, the overall findings suggested less severe and persistent EF deficits in ASD (including Asperger Syndrome) than in ADHD.
“执行功能”（EF）缺陷是几种临床疾病的特征，最显著的是自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）和注意力缺陷/多动障碍（ADHD）。在本研究中，对年龄和智商匹配的ASD组、ADHD组或典型发育（TD）组进行了一系列执行功能任务的比较，这些任务涉及三个核心领域：反应选择/抑制、灵活性以及计划/工作记忆。同时还考察了执行功能、年龄与日常困难（由家长和教师评定）之间的关系。与发育正常的同龄人相比，两个临床组均表现出明显的执行功能损伤。ADHD组在“停止信号”任务中表现出更大的抑制问题，而ASD组在认知估计任务中的反应选择/监测方面明显更差。与ADHD组相比，ASD组和TD组与年龄相关的改善更为明显。在较大（而非较小）年龄时，ASD组的表现优于ADHD组，在许多执行功能测量中与TD组表现相当。执行功能得分与沟通和社会适应的特定方面相关，并且与ASD组和TD组中的多动呈负相关。在当前研究组中，总体研究结果表明，ASD（包括阿斯伯格综合征）的执行功能缺陷不如ADHD严重和持久。
