Marquardt Lynn, Eichele Heike, Lundervold Astri J, Haavik Jan, Eichele Tom
K.G. Jebsen Centre for Research on Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Department of Biomedicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Department of Biological and Medical Psychology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Front Psychol. 2018 Apr 11;9:485. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00485. eCollection 2018.
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most frequent neurodevelopmental disorders in children and tends to persist into adulthood. Evidence from neuropsychological, neuroimaging, and electrophysiological studies indicates that alterations of error processing are core symptoms in children and adolescents with ADHD. To test whether adults with ADHD show persisting deficits and compensatory processes, we investigated performance monitoring during stimulus-evaluation and response-selection, with a focus on errors, as well as within-group correlations with symptom scores. Fifty-five participants (27 ADHD and 28 controls) aged 19-55 years performed a modified flanker task during EEG recording with 64 electrodes, and the ADHD and control groups were compared on measures of behavioral task performance, event-related potentials of performance monitoring (N2, P3), and error processing (ERN, Pe). Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS) was used to assess ADHD symptom load. Adults with ADHD showed higher error rates in incompatible trials, and these error rates correlated positively with the ASRS scores. Also, we observed lower P3 amplitudes in incompatible trials, which were inversely correlated with symptom load in the ADHD group. Adults with ADHD also displayed reduced error-related ERN and Pe amplitudes. There were no significant differences in reaction time (RT) and RT variability between the two groups. Our findings show deviations of electrophysiological measures, suggesting reduced effortful engagement of attentional and error-monitoring processes in adults with ADHD. Associations between ADHD symptom scores, event-related potential amplitudes, and poorer task performance in the ADHD group further support this notion.
注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）是儿童中最常见的神经发育障碍之一，且往往会持续到成年期。神经心理学、神经影像学和电生理学研究的证据表明，错误处理的改变是患有ADHD的儿童和青少年的核心症状。为了测试患有ADHD的成年人是否存在持续的缺陷和代偿过程，我们研究了刺激评估和反应选择过程中的绩效监测，重点关注错误，以及与症状评分的组内相关性。55名年龄在19至55岁之间的参与者（27名ADHD患者和28名对照组）在使用64个电极进行脑电图记录时完成了一项改良的侧翼任务，并在行为任务表现、绩效监测的事件相关电位（N2、P3）和错误处理（ERN、Pe）指标上对ADHD组和对照组进行了比较。使用成人ADHD自我报告量表（ASRS）评估ADHD症状负荷。患有ADHD的成年人在不相容试验中的错误率更高，且这些错误率与ASRS评分呈正相关。此外，我们在不相容试验中观察到较低的P3波幅，这与ADHD组的症状负荷呈负相关。患有ADHD的成年人还表现出与错误相关的ERN和Pe波幅降低。两组之间的反应时间（RT）和RT变异性没有显著差异。我们的研究结果显示了电生理测量的偏差，表明患有ADHD的成年人在注意力和错误监测过程中的努力参与减少。ADHD症状评分、事件相关电位波幅与ADHD组较差的任务表现之间的关联进一步支持了这一观点。
