Baijot Simon, Slama Hichem, Söderlund Göran, Dan Bernard, Deltenre Paul, Colin Cécile, Deconinck Nicolas
Center for Research in Cognition and Neurosciences (CRCN), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Campus du Solbosch CP 191, Avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, CP 151, 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Research Unit in Cognitive Neurosciences (UNESCOG), Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), 1050, Brussels, Belgium.
Behav Brain Funct. 2016 Mar 15;12(1):11. doi: 10.1186/s12993-016-0095-y.
Optimal stimulation theory and moderate brain arousal (MBA) model hypothesize that extra-task stimulation (e.g. white noise) could improve cognitive functions of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We investigate benefits of white noise on attention and inhibition in children with and without ADHD (7-12 years old), both at behavioral and at neurophysiological levels.
Thirty children with and without ADHD performed a visual cued Go/Nogo task in two conditions (white noise or no-noise exposure), in which behavioral and P300 (mean amplitudes) data were analyzed. Spontaneous eye-blink rates were also recorded and participants went through neuropsychological assessment. Two separate analyses were conducted with each child separately assigned into two groups (1) ADHD or typically developing children (TDC), and (2) noise beneficiaries or non-beneficiaries according to the observed performance during the experiment. This latest categorization, based on a new index we called "Noise Benefits Index" (NBI), was proposed to determine a neuropsychological profile positively sensitive to noise.
Noise exposure reduced omission rate in children with ADHD, who were no longer different from TDC. Eye-blink rate was higher in children with ADHD but was not modulated by white noise. NBI indicated a significant relationship between ADHD and noise benefit. Strong correlations were observed between noise benefit and neuropsychological weaknesses in vigilance and inhibition. Participants who benefited from noise had an increased Go P300 in the noise condition.
The improvement of children with ADHD with white noise supports both optimal stimulation theory and MBA model. However, eye-blink rate results question the dopaminergic hypothesis in the latter. The NBI evidenced a profile positively sensitive to noise, related with ADHD, and associated with weaker cognitive control.
最佳刺激理论和适度脑唤醒（MBA）模型假设，额外任务刺激（如白噪音）可以改善注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）儿童的认知功能。我们在行为和神经生理水平上研究了白噪音对患有和未患有ADHD（7至12岁）儿童的注意力和抑制能力的益处。
30名患有和未患有ADHD的儿童在两种条件下（白噪音暴露或无噪音暴露）执行视觉线索Go/Nogo任务，分析其中的行为和P300（平均振幅）数据。还记录了自发眨眼率，并让参与者接受神经心理学评估。进行了两项单独的分析，每个孩子分别被分为两组：（1）ADHD儿童或发育正常儿童（TDC），以及（2）根据实验期间观察到的表现分为噪音受益组或非受益组。基于我们称为“噪音益处指数”（NBI）的新指标提出的这一最新分类，旨在确定对噪音呈阳性敏感的神经心理学特征。
噪音暴露降低了ADHD儿童的遗漏率，这些儿童与TDC儿童不再有差异。ADHD儿童的眨眼率较高，但未受白噪音调节。NBI表明ADHD与噪音益处之间存在显著关系。在警觉性和抑制方面，观察到噪音益处与神经心理学弱点之间存在强相关性。从噪音中受益的参与者在噪音条件下的Go P300增加。
白噪音对ADHD儿童的改善支持了最佳刺激理论和MBA模型。然而，眨眼率结果对后者的多巴胺能假说提出了质疑。NBI证明了一种对噪音呈阳性敏感的特征，与ADHD相关，并与较弱的认知控制有关。
