Error and post-error processing in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: An electrical neuroimaging study.

OBJECTIVE

Inaccurate and inconsistent response styles in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been observed in a wide variety of cognitive tasks, in line with regulatory deficit models of ADHD. Event-related potential (ERP) studies of error processing have provided evidence for these models, but are limited in specificity. We aimed to improve the isolation, localization and identification of error (self-monitoring and adaptive control) and post-error (implementation of cognitive control) processing in ADHD.

METHODS

ERPs were obtained for 46 ADHD and 51 typically developing (TD) children using the stop-signal task. Response-locked error (Ne and Pe) and stimulus-locked post-error (N2) components were compared between groups. Ne/Pe were corrected for preceding stimulus overlap and group differences were localized.

RESULTS

Ne was intact, while Pe amplitude was markedly reduced in children with ADHD (ηp = 0.14). Pe differences were localized in the dorsal posterior/midcingulate (BA31/24) cortex. While the TD group showed increased N2 amplitude in post-error trials (ηp = 0.24), localized in the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) and angular gyrus, the ADHD group did not.

CONCLUSIONS

Self-regulation deficits in ADHD are associated with later stages of error processing and subsequent implementation of cognitive control.

SIGNIFICANCE

We contribute to the literature by further specifying error processing deficits in ADHD.