Association of ADHD and conduct disorder--brain electrical evidence for the existence of a distinct subtype.

Background: To evaluate the impact of psychopathological comorbidity with oppositional defiant/conduct disorder (ODD/CD) on brain electrical correlates in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and to study the pathophysiological background of comorbidity of ADHD+ODD/CD.

Method: Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded during a cued continuous performance test (CPT-A-X) in children (aged 8 to 14 years) with ICD-10 diagnoses of either hyperkinetic disorder (HD; n = 15), hyperkinetic conduct disorder (HCD; n = 16), or ODD/CD (n = 15) and normal children (n = 18). HD/HCD diagnoses in all children were fully concordant with the DSM-IV diagnosis of ADHD-combined type.

Developmental event-related gamma oscillations: effects of auditory attention.

This study describes maturational changes in topographical patterns, stability, and functional reactivity of auditory gamma band (31-63 Hz) responses (GBRs) as brain electrical correlates relevant for cognitive development during childhood. GBRs of 114 healthy children from 9 to 16 years were elicited in an auditory focused attention task requiring motor responding to targets, and analyzed by means of the wavelet transform (WT). The effects of age and task variables (attended side and stimulus type relevance) were examined for GBR power and phase-locking within 120 ms after stimulation.

Multicenter P300 brain mapping of impaired attention to cues in hyperkinetic children.

Objective: To measure specific neurophysiological attention deficits in children with hyperkinetic disorders (HD; the ICD-10 diagnosis for severe and pervasive attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [ADHD]).

Method: In a multicenter sample of 148 children with HD and control children aged 8 to 14 years, event-related potential maps were recorded during a cued continuous performance test (A-X/O-X). Maps to cues (requiring attention but no response) and distractors and performance were tested for differences between age- and sex-matched HD and control groups (n = 57 each), as well as between clinics (n = 5).

Abnormal early stages of task stimulus processing in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder--evidence from event-related gamma oscillations.

Objectives: Attention-related differences in early stages of stimulus processing were assessed in healthy controls and children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by analyzing phase-locked gamma band (31-63 Hz) responses to auditory stimuli in a selective-attention task.

Methods: A total of 28 children aged 9-12 years (ADHD and matched healthy controls) pressed a button in response to each target stimulus presented at the attended side (right or left). Auditory gamma band responses (GBRs) within 0-120 ms were analyzed at 8 electrodes with wavelet transform.

Evaluation of sensorimotor training in children with ADHD.

Reduced ability to regulate motor behavior seems to be an essential aspect of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and may reflect deficits in behavioral response inhibition. In this respect, pragmatic clinical experience over the last two decades, in daily practice, training of motor control has played an important role within multimodal treatment approaches, although an adequate proof of its efficacy is still lacking. Therefore, to examine the efficacy of sensorimotor training, 12 children with ADHD (two groups of six) were treated with both sensorimotor training and (as control) cognitive behavioral training using a within-subject cross-over design.

Gamma band response in children is related to task-stimulus processing.

The present study described the functional characteristics of early phase-locked electroencephalographic gamma band (30-60 Hz) responses (GBRs) in 9- to 12-year-old healthy children. GBRs were elicited in an auditory selective-attention task. Target stimuli required motor responding when presented to the right or to the left (attended side).

Comorbidity in ADHD-children: effects of coexisting conduct disorder or tic disorder on event-related brain potentials in an auditory selective-attention task.

In children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) some deficits in auditory information processing seem to exist. Further, comorbidity of ADHD with conduct disorder (CD) and tic disorder (Tic) is quite common but not yet fully understood. Thus, we investigated the effects of these two disturbances, when combined with ADHD, on electrophysiological correlates of auditory information processing.

Quantitative and qualitative aspects of obsessive-compulsive behaviour in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder compared with tic disorder.

Objective: Within the framework of associated psychopathology in child psychiatric disorders, this study focused on quantitative and qualitative aspects of obsessive-compulsive behaviour (OCB) in both attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and chronic tic disorder/Tourette's disorder (TD).

Method: Forty-two healthy controls, 41 children with ADHD and 38 children with TD, aged 9-13 years, were investigated using the Leyton Obsessional Inventory--Child Version (LOI-CV), the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and an expert-rated structured parent interview to reflect a cross-informant view of OCB.

Results: Unexpectedly, self-reports of children with ADHD rather than children with TD showed the highest OCB scores in the LOI-CV.

Cognitive functions and psychopathological symptoms in early-onset schizophrenia.

Type and extent of objectively tested cognitive impairments (attention, verbal fluency, nonverbal reasoning) and their association with self-ratings (Paranoia Depression Scale; Frankfurt Complaint Questionnaire) and clinical assessments (Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale, Scales for the Assessment of Positive Symptoms and Negative Symptoms) of psychopathological symptoms were studied in a sample of 74 adolescents primarily suffering from chronic schizophrenia (DSM-III-R; mean duration of illness = 3.4 years), including 15 patients with a very early onset (< 14 years). Special consideration was given to the differentiation between positive and negative symptoms.