Response inhibition and academic abilities in typically developing children with attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder-combined subtype

Yoga and music intervention reduces inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and oppositional defiant disorder in children's consumer with comorbid ADHD and ODD

Introduction

To analyze the impact of yoga and music intervention on child consumers, we selected 60 eligible child consumers from yoga and music companies.

Methods

This preliminary study used a randomized controlled design to investigate whether a 16-week combined yoga and music intervention improves attention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) in 60 children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comorbid with ODD aged 4-6 years. It also preliminarily identified which intervention is best for these children among three types: combined yoga and music, yoga-only, and musiconly interventions. We used both the parent- and teacher-rated MTA SNAP-IV ADHD Rating Scale for data collection.

Results

We found that the combined yoga and music intervention had a positive effect on inattention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and ODD in children with comorbid ADHD and ODD. The combined yoga and music intervention was the most effective in reducing inattention (in repeated measures ANOVA effect size, 0.9; followed by the yoga- and the music-only interventions, respectively), hyperactivity/impulsivity (effect size, 0.92), and ODD behaviors (effect size, 0.93) in children with comorbid ADHD and ODD. Thus, the combined yoga and music intervention was the most effective and had a more comprehensive effect on children with combined ADHD and ODD compared with the two other interventions (i.e., yoga- and music-only interventions).

Discussion

Our findings provide preliminary evidence for the use of combined yoga and music interventions on a daily basis as a safe and effective adjunctive treatment for children with comorbid ADHD and ODD. The children in the article refer to child consumers of yoga and music companies.

The Role of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) in the Relation between Physical Activity and Executive Functioning in Children

Physical activity (PA) can improve children’s executive functioning (EF), which might be caused by increased levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). This study investigated whether acute and/or chronic PA leads to increased BDNF levels and enhanced EF in children. Methods: In total, 47 children (mean age 9.69 ± 0.60; 46.8% boys) participated. Children performed a maximal exercise test to measure acute PA. Before and after, BDNF was collected and EF was measured. Chronic PA was proxy-reported. Repeated Measures ANOVAs were performed to study the effect of acute PA on BDNF and EF. Mediation analyses were performed to investigate the mediation effect of BDNF on the association between chronic PA and BDNF. Results: A borderline significant effect of acute PA on BDNF was found (F = 3.32, p = 0.075) with an increase in BDNF (+29.58 pg/mL) after acute PA. A significant effect was found for performance on inhibition tasks (Flanker (accuracy +5.67%, p = 0.034) and Go/No-Go (+0.15%, p = 0.022)). No effect of acute PA was found on the EF outcomes. No significant correlation between chronic PA and EFs nor BDNF was found. Conclusions: Acute PA might increase BDNF and improve some EFs (i.e., inhibition) in children. Chronic PA was not associated with EF nor BDNF. Trial Registration Number: NCT02503579.

The Effect of Long-Acting Methylphenidate and Modafinil on Attention and Impulsivity of Children with ADHD using a Continuous Performance Test: A Comparative Study

OBJECTIVES

Given the importance of having a continuous performance for the academic and social life of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), in this study, a Continuous Performance Test (CPT) was used to compare the effect of long-acting methylphenidate and modafinil on attention and impulsivity of these children.

MATERIALS & METHODS

A randomized clinical trial was conducted on 50 children with ADHD aged 6 to 12 years in the child and adolescent psychiatric departments of Imam Hossein and Mofid hospitals, Tehran, Iran. The children were selected by availability sampling and randomly assigned into two equal groups (n=25 in each). While the first group was treated with long-acting methylphenidate, the second was treated with modafinil for 14 days. The CPT was carried out before and after the treatment. The obtained data were analyzed by F and t tests.

RESULTS

Long-acting methylphenidate and modafinil were both effective in improving attention and impulsivity in children with ADHD. There was no significant difference between the two drugs in terms of effectiveness on attention and impulsivity.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study showed that long-acting methylphenidate and modafinil are equally effective in improving attention and impulsivity in children with ADHD aged 6 to 12 years.

Effects of Physical Activity Intervention on Motor Proficiency and Physical Fitness in Children With ADHD: An Exploratory Study

OBJECTIVE

This study explored how a 12-week simulated developmental horse-riding program (SDHRP) combined with fitness training influenced the motor proficiency and physical fitness of children with ADHD.

METHOD

Twelve children with ADHD received the intervention, whereas 12 children with ADHD and 24 typically developing (TD) children did not. The fitness levels and motor skills of the participants were assessed using standardized tests before and after the 12-week training program.

RESULTS

Significant improvements were observed in the motor proficiency, cardiovascular fitness, and flexibility of the ADHD training group following the intervention.

CONCLUSION

Children with ADHD exhibit low levels of motor proficiency and cardiovascular fitness; thus, using the combined 12-week SDHRP and fitness training positively affected children with ADHD.

Reduced Prefrontal Cortex Activation in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder during Go/No-Go Task: A Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study

Objective: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neuropsychiatric disorders in children and affects 3 to 5% of school-aged children. This study is to demonstrate whether functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) can detect the changes in the concentration of oxygenated hemoglobin (oxy-HB) in children with ADHD and typically developing children (TD children). Method: In this study, 14 children with ADHD and 15 TD children were studied. Metabolic signals of functional blood oxygen were recorded by using fNIRS during go/no-go task. A statistic method is used to compare the fNIRS between the ADHD children and controls. Results: A significant oxy-HB increase in the left frontopolar cortex (FPC) in control subjects but not in children with ADHD during inhibitory tasks. Moreover, ADHD children showed reduced activation in left FPC relative to TD children. Conclusion: Functional brain imaging using fNIRS showed reduced activation in the left prefrontal cortex (PFC) of children with ADHD during the inhibition task. The fNIRS could be a promising tool for differentiating children with ADHD and TD children.

Impaired Memory for Instructions in Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Is Improved by Action at Presentation and Recall

Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often fail to comply with teacher instructions in the classroom. Using action during presentation or recall can enhance typically developing children's abilities to complete multi-step instruction sequences. In this study, we tested the ability to following instructions in children with ADHD under different conditions to explore whether they show the same beneficial effects of action. A total of 24 children with ADHD and 27 typically developing children either listened to or viewed demonstrations of instructions during encoding, and then either verbally repeated or physically performed the sequences during recall. This resulted in four conditions: spoken-verbal, spoken-enacted, demonstration-verbal, and demonstration-enacted. Children with ADHD were significantly impaired in all conditions of the following instructions task relative to the typically developing group. Both groups showed an enacted-recall advantage, with superior recall by physical performance than oral repetition. Both groups also benefitted from demonstration over spoken presentation, but only when the instructions were recalled verbally. These findings suggest that children with ADHD struggle to complete multi-step instructions, but that they benefit from action-based presentation and recall in the same way as typically developing children. These findings have important implications for educators, suggesting that motor-based methods of instruction-delivery might enhance classroom learning both for children with and without developmental disorders.

Neuroelectric and Behavioral Effects of Acute Exercise on Task Switching in Children with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

The main purpose of this two-part study was to examine the effects of acute, moderate intensity exercise on task switching in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In Study 1, we compared the task switching performance of children with and without ADHD. Twenty children with ADHD and 20 matched controls performed the task switching paradigm, in which the behavioral indices and P3 component of event-related potentials elicited by task-switching were assessed simultaneously. The amplitude and latency of P3 reflected the amount of attention resource allocated to task-relevant stimulus in the environment and the efficiency of stimulus detection and evaluation, respectively. The task switching included two conditions; the pure condition required participants to perform the task on the same rule (e.g., AAAA or BBBB) whereas the mixed condition required participants to perform the task on two alternating rules (e.g., AABBAA…). The results indicated that children with ADHD had significantly longer RTs, less accuracy, and larger global switch cost for accuracy than controls. Additionally, ADHD participants showed smaller amplitudes and longer P3 latencies in global switch effects. In Study 2, we further examined the effects of an acute aerobic exercise session on task switching in children with ADHD. Thirty-four children with ADHD performed a task switching paradigm after 30 min of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise on a treadmill and after control sessions (watching videos while seated). The results revealed that following exercise, children with ADHD exhibited smaller global switch costs in RT compared with after control sessions. The P3 amplitude only increased following exercise in the mixed condition relative to the pure condition, whereas no effects were found in the control session. These findings suggest that single bouts of moderate intensity aerobic exercise may have positive effects on the working memory of children with ADHD.

Disruptive behavior disorders and indicators of disinhibition in adolescents: The BRIEF-SR, anti-saccade task, and D-KEFS color-word interference test

Disinhibition contributes to the development of disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) in adolescents. Self-reports and behavioral tasks are commonly used to assess disinhibition, each with their unique strengths and limitations. Accordingly, it is important to identify which measure, or combination thereof, is the most effective in predicting DBD symptoms. This study assessed the relationship between DBD (symptoms of ADHD/ODD/CD) and two behavioral disinhibition tasks: the anti-saccade task and the D-KEFS color-word interference test, as well as a self-report measure (the BRIEF-SR). The results indicated that the BRIEF-Inhibit scale accounted for the majority of the variance in the DBD sum score. The anti-saccade task and color-word interference test were also significantly associated with an increase in the number of DBD symptoms endorsed. These behavioral tasks accounted for 9% additional variance than the self-report alone. Therefore, combining self-report measures with behavioral disinhibition tasks may provide the most thorough assessment of adolescent DBD.

Children with low working memory and children with ADHD: same or different?

The purpose of this study was to compare working memory (WM), executive function, academic ability, and problem classroom behaviors in children aged 8-11 years who were either identified via routine screening as having low WM, or had been diagnosed with ADHD. Standardized assessments of WM, executive function and reading and mathematics were administered to 83 children with ADHD, 50 children with low WM and 50 typically developing children. Teachers rated problem behaviors on checklists measuring attention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, oppositional behavior, and difficulties associated with executive function in the classroom. The ADHD and low WM groups had highly similar WM and executive function profiles, but were distinguished in two key respects: children with ADHD had higher levels of rated and observed impulsive behavior, and children with low WM had slower response times. Possible mechanisms for these common and distinct deficits are discussed.

A longitudinal study of neuropsychological functioning and academic achievement in children with and without signs of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

OBJECTIVE

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in childhood is associated with poor academic functioning. Deficits in academic functioning have proven to be less responsive to intervention than behavioral deficits in this population, yet the causes of this academic underperformance are not well understood. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between ADHD and academic performance in elementary-aged children in a developmental context. To do this, we study important cognitive variables and academic achievement over a three-year timeframe.

METHOD

Based on teacher ratings of ADHD, children were divided into a high symptom group (n = 17) and a low symptom group (n = 34). A thorough battery of cognitive and academic tests was administered at Time 1 and again 2 years later. Cognitive measures focused specifically on working memory and response inhibition.

RESULTS

RESULTS indicate that children who have high levels of ADHD signs differ from their low-sign peers in academic achievement and in several cognitive domains. Differences in cognitive functioning show a developmental trend consistent with earlier developmental delays in response inhibition and later delays in working memory. Working memory appears to be particularly important in several academic domains. Importantly, in a longitudinal model, working memory was more predictive of math achievement for students demonstrating signs of ADHD than for those who did not.

CONCLUSION

The relationship between these cognitive variables and academic functioning are explicated in the domains of reading, math, and problem solving.

Response inhibition impairment in high functioning autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: evidence from near-infrared spectroscopy data

BACKGROUND

Response inhibition, an important domain of executive function (EF), involves the ability to suppress irrelevant or interfering information and impulses. Previous studies have shown impairment of response inhibition in high functioning autism (HFA) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but more recent findings have been inconsistent. To date, almost no studies have been conducted using functional imaging techniques to directly compare inhibitory control between children with HFA and those with ADHD.

METHOD

Nineteen children with HFA, 16 age- and intelligence quotient (IQ)-matched children with ADHD, and 16 typically developing (TD) children were imaged using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) while performing Go/No-go and Stroop tasks.

RESULTS

Compared with the TD group, children in both the HFA and ADHD groups took more time to respond during the No-go blocks, with reaction time longest for HFA and shortest for TD. Children in the HFA and ADHD groups also made a greater number of reaction errors in the No-go blocks than those in the TD group. During the Stroop task, there were no significant differences between these three groups in reaction time and omission errors. Both the HFA and ADHD groups showed a higher level of inactivation in the right prefrontal cortex (PFC) during the No-go blocks, relative to the TD group. However, no significant differences were found between groups in the levels of oxyhemoglobin concentration in the PFC during the Stroop task.

CONCLUSION

Functional brain imaging using NIRS showed reduced activation in the right PFC in children with HFA or ADHD during an inhibition task, indicating that inhibitory dysfunction is a shared feature of both HFA and ADHD.