Saville, Christopher W. N.;
Feige, Bernd;
Kluckert, Christian;
Bender, Stephan;
Biscaldi, Monica;
Berger, Andrea;
Fleischhaker, Christian;
Henighausen, Klaus;
Klein, Christoph
Increased reaction time variability in attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder as a response‐related phenomenon: evidence from single‐trial event‐related potentials
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Media type:
E-Article
Title:
Increased reaction time variability in attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder as a response‐related phenomenon: evidence from single‐trial event‐related potentials
Contributor:
Saville, Christopher W. N.;
Feige, Bernd;
Kluckert, Christian;
Bender, Stephan;
Biscaldi, Monica;
Berger, Andrea;
Fleischhaker, Christian;
Henighausen, Klaus;
Klein, Christoph
imprint:
Wiley, 2015
Published in:Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1111/jcpp.12348
ISSN:
0021-9630;
1469-7610
Origination:
Footnote:
Description:
<jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>Increased intra‐subject variability (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ISV</jats:styled-content>) in reaction times (RTs) is a promising endophenotype for attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ADHD</jats:styled-content>) and among the most robust hallmarks of the disorder. <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ISV</jats:styled-content> has been assumed to represent an attentional deficit, either reflecting lapses in attention or increased neural noise. Here, we use an innovative single‐trial event‐related potential approach to assess whether the increased <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ISV</jats:styled-content> associated with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ADHD</jats:styled-content> is indeed attributable to attention, or whether it is related to response‐related processing.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>We measured electroencephalographic responses to working memory oddball tasks in patients with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ADHD</jats:styled-content> (<jats:italic>N</jats:italic> = 20, aged 11.3 ± 1.1) and healthy controls (<jats:italic>N</jats:italic> = 25, aged 11.7 ± 1.1), and analysed these data with a recently developed method of single‐trial event‐related potential analysis. Estimates of component latency variability were computed for the stimulus‐locked and response‐locked forms of the P3b and the lateralised readiness potential (LRP).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p><jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ADHD</jats:styled-content> patients showed significantly increased <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ISV</jats:styled-content> in behavioural <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ISV</jats:styled-content>. This increased <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ISV</jats:styled-content> was paralleled by an increase in variability in response‐locked event‐related potential latencies, while variability in stimulus‐locked latencies was equivalent between groups. This result held across the P3b and LRP. Latency of all components predicted RTs on a single‐trial basis, confirming that all were relevant for speed of processing.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions</jats:title><jats:p>These data suggest that the increased <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ISV</jats:styled-content> found in <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ADHD</jats:styled-content> could be associated with response‐end, rather than stimulus‐end processes, in contrast to prevailing conceptions about the endophenotype. This mental chronometric approach may also be useful for exploring whether the existing lack of specificity of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">ISV</jats:styled-content> to particular psychiatric conditions can be improved upon.</jats:p></jats:sec>