Tegelbeckers Jana, Brechmann André, Breitling-Ziegler Carolin, Bonath Bjoern, Flechtner Hans-Henning, Krauel Kerstin
Department of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
Department of Neuropsychology, Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2022 Jun 21;16:878994. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2022.878994. eCollection 2022.
Distractibility is one of the key features of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and has been associated with alterations in the neural orienting and alerting networks. Task-irrelevant stimuli are thus expected to have detrimental effects on the performance of patients with ADHD. However, task-irrelevant presentation of sounds seems to have the opposite effect and improve subsequent attentional performance particularly in patients with ADHD. Here, we aimed to understand the neural modulations of the attention networks underlying these improvements. Fifty boys (25 with ADHD) participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study in which unique (novel) or repeatedly presented (familiar) sounds were placed before a visual flanker task in 2/3 of the trials. We found that presenting any sound improved task performance in all participants, but the underlying neural mechanisms differed for the type of sound. Familiar sounds led to a stronger increase in activity in the left posterior insula in patients with ADHD compared to typically developing peers. Novel sounds led to activations of the fronto-temporoparietal ventral attention network, likewise in ADHD and TD. These changes in signaling by novelty in the right inferior frontal gyrus were directly related to improved response speed showing that neural orienting network activity following novel sounds facilitated subsequent attentional performance. This mechanism of behavioral enhancement by short distractions could potentially be useful for cognitive trainings or homework situations.
注意力分散是注意缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）的关键特征之一，并且与神经定向和警觉网络的改变有关。因此，与任务无关的刺激预计会对ADHD患者的表现产生不利影响。然而，与任务无关的声音呈现似乎具有相反的效果，特别是在ADHD患者中，会改善随后的注意力表现。在这里，我们旨在了解这些改善背后的注意力网络的神经调节。五十名男孩（25名患有ADHD）参与了一项功能磁共振成像（fMRI）研究，在2/3的试验中，在视觉侧翼任务之前放置独特（新颖）或重复呈现（熟悉）的声音。我们发现，呈现任何声音都会提高所有参与者的任务表现，但声音类型的潜在神经机制有所不同。与正常发育的同龄人相比，熟悉的声音导致ADHD患者左后岛叶的活动增加更为强烈。新颖的声音导致额颞顶叶腹侧注意力网络的激活，ADHD患者和正常发育者均如此。右侧额下回新颖性信号的这些变化与反应速度的提高直接相关，表明新颖声音后的神经定向网络活动促进了随后的注意力表现。通过短暂干扰来增强行为的这种机制可能对认知训练或家庭作业情况有用。
