The Etiological and Predictive Association Between ADHD and Cognitive Performance From Childhood to Young Adulthood.

Objective: Evidence about the etiology of the predictive associations between a diagnosis of ADHD and cognitive performance over time is scarce. Here, we examine these predictive and etiological patterns using a cross-lagged model design in a sample of 404 participants (74% males) from ADHD and control sibling pairs aged 6 to 17 years at baseline and 12 to 24 years at follow-up.

Methods: Data included IQ, short-term and working memory measures, and response speed and variability from a four-choice reaction-time task.

Longitudinal touchscreen use across early development is associated with faster exogenous and reduced endogenous attention control.

Childhood screen time is associated with both attentional difficulties (for television viewing) and benefits (in action video gamers), but few studies have investigated today's pervasive touchscreen devices (e.g. smartphones and tablets), which combine salient features, interactive content, and accessibility from toddlerhood (a peak period of cognitive development).

Saliency-Driven Visual Search Performance in Toddlers With Low- vs High-Touch Screen Use.

This study compares high– and low–touch screen users on a gaze-contingent visual search paradigm.

Event-related brain-oscillatory and ex-Gaussian markers of remission and persistence of ADHD.

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often persists into adolescence and adulthood, but the processes underlying persistence and remission remain poorly understood. We previously found that reaction time variability and event-related potentials of preparation-vigilance processes were impaired in ADHD persisters and represented markers of remission, as ADHD remitters were indistinguishable from controls but differed from persisters. Here, we aimed to further clarify the nature of the cognitive-neurophysiological impairments in ADHD and of markers of remission by examining the finer-grained ex-Gaussian reaction-time distribution and electroencephalographic (EEG) brain-oscillatory measures in ADHD persisters, remitters and controls.

Does Co-Occurring Anxiety Modulate ADHD-Related Cognitive and Neurophysiological Impairments?

This study investigates whether anxiety modulates cognitive-performance, electrophysiological and electrodermal processes that we previously found impaired in individuals with ADHD. Self-reported anxiety symptoms, cognitive-electrophysiological measures of response inhibition, working memory, attention, conflict monitoring, error processing, and peripheral arousal during three cognitive tasks were obtained from 87 adolescents and young adults with ADHD and 169 controls. We tested the association of anxiety symptoms with each measure and whether controlling for anxiety symptoms attenuates the ADHD-control difference for each measure.

Atypical functional connectivity in adolescents and adults with persistent and remitted ADHD during a cognitive control task.

We previously provided initial evidence for cognitive and event-related potential markers of persistence/remission of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) from childhood to adolescence and adulthood. Here, using a novel brain-network connectivity approach, we aimed to examine whether task-based functional connectivity reflects a marker of ADHD remission or an enduring deficit unrelated to ADHD outcome. High-density EEG was recorded in a follow-up of 110 adolescents and young adults with childhood ADHD (87 persisters, 23 remitters) and 169 typically developing individuals during an arrow-flanker task, eliciting cognitive control.

The Etiological Structure of Cognitive-Neurophysiological Impairments in ADHD in Adolescence and Young Adulthood.

Previous studies in children with ADHD identified two partially separable familial factors underlying cognitive dysfunction, but evidence in adolescents and adults is lacking. Here, we investigate the etiological structure of cognitive-neurophysiological impairments in ADHD in adolescents and young adults. Factor analyses and multivariate familial models were run in 356 participants from ADHD and control sibling pairs aged 11 to 27 years on data on IQ, digit span forward (DSF) and backward (DSB), and cognitive-performance and event-related potential (ERP) measures from three cognitive tasks.

Daily touchscreen use in infants and toddlers is associated with reduced sleep and delayed sleep onset.

Traditional screen time (e.g. TV and videogaming) has been linked to sleep problems and poorer developmental outcomes in children.

Peripheral Hypoarousal but Not Preparation-Vigilance Impairment Endures in ADHD Remission.

This study investigates whether impairments associated with persistent ADHD-impaired attention allocation (P3 amplitude), peripheral hypoarousal (skin conductance level [SCL]), and adjustment in preparatory state (contingent negative variation [CNV])-reflect enduring deficits unrelated to ADHD outcome or are markers of ADHD remission. Young people with childhood ADHD (73 persisters and 18 remitters) and 144 controls were compared on neurophysiological measures during two conditions (baseline and fast-incentive) of a four-choice reaction time task. ADHD remitters differed from persisters, and were indistinguishable from controls, on baseline P3 amplitude and fast-incentive CNV amplitude ( ≤ .

Neurophysiological Correlates of Attentional Fluctuation in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.

Cognitive performance in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterised, in part, by frequent fluctuations in response speed, resulting in high reaction time variability (RTV). RTV captures a large proportion of the genetic risk in ADHD but, importantly, is malleable, improving significantly in a fast-paced, rewarded task condition. Using the temporal precision offered by event-related potentials (ERPs), we aimed to examine the neurophysiological measures of attention allocation (P3 amplitudes) and preparation (contingent negative variation, CNV), and their associations with the fluctuating RT performance and its improvement in ADHD.

Modifiable Arousal in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Its Etiological Association With Fluctuating Reaction Times.

Background: Cognitive theories of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) propose that high within-subject fluctuations of cognitive performance in ADHD, particularly reaction time (RT) variability (RTV), may reflect arousal dysregulation. However, direct evidence of arousal dysregulation and how it may account for fluctuating RTs in ADHD is limited. We used skin conductance (SC) as a measure of peripheral arousal and aimed to investigate its phenotypic and familial association with RTV in a large sample of ADHD and control sibling pairs.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Remission Is Linked to Better Neurophysiological Error Detection and Attention-Vigilance Processes.

Background: The processes underlying persistence and remission of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are poorly understood. We examined whether cognitive and neurophysiological impairments on a performance-monitoring task distinguish between ADHD persisters and remitters.

Methods: On average 6 years after initial assessment, 110 adolescents and young adults with childhood ADHD (87 persisters, 23 remitters) and 169 age-matched control participants were compared on cognitive-performance measures and event-related potentials of conflict monitoring (N2) and error processing (error-related negativity and positivity) from an arrow flanker task with low-conflict and high-conflict conditions.

Toddlers' Fine Motor Milestone Achievement Is Associated with Early Touchscreen Scrolling.

Touchscreen technologies provide an intuitive and attractive source of sensory/cognitive stimulation for young children. Despite fears that usage may have a negative impact on toddlers' cognitive development, empirical evidence is lacking. The current study presents results from the UK Toddler Attentional Behaviours and LEarning with Touchscreens (TABLET) project, examining the association between toddlers' touchscreen use and the attainment of developmental milestones.

Self-report of ADHD shows limited agreement with objective markers of persistence and remittance.

Objective: A controversial issue is whether self-report of symptoms and impairment is sufficient for diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in adolescents and adults in the absence of other informants, such as parents. The present study investigated how well self-report is reflected by cognitive-neurophysiological and actigraph measures, which we have previously shown to discriminate between ADHD persisters, remitters and controls using parent-report (Cheung et al., 2015; Brit J Psychiat http://dx.

Testing for the mediating role of endophenotypes using molecular genetic data in a twin study of ADHD traits.

Family and twin studies have identified endophenotypes that capture familial and genetic risk in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but it remains unclear if they lie on the causal pathway. Here, we illustrate a stepwise approach to identifying intermediate phenotypes. First, we use previous quantitative genetic findings to delineate the expected pattern of genetically correlated phenotypes.

Cognitive and neurophysiological markers of ADHD persistence and remission.

Background: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) persists in around two-thirds of individuals in adolescence and early adulthood.

Aims: To examine the cognitive and neurophysiological processes underlying the persistence or remission of ADHD.

Method: Follow-up data were obtained from 110 young people with childhood ADHD and 169 controls on cognitive, electroencephalogram frequency, event-related potential (ERP) and actigraph movement measures after 6 years.

Childhood predictors of adolescent and young adult outcome in ADHD.

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often persists into adulthood, but it remains unclear which childhood factors predict future outcome.

Aim: To identify childhood predictors of ADHD outcome using both dimensional and categorical approaches.

Methods: 116 adolescents and young adults with childhood ADHD were followed up on average 6.

A Matter of Time: The Influence of Recording Context on EEG Spectral Power in Adolescents and Young Adults with ADHD.

Elevated theta or theta/beta ratio is often reported in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but the consistency across studies and the relation to hypoarousal are increasingly questioned. Reports of elevated delta related to maturational lag and of attenuated beta activity are less well replicated. Some critical inconsistencies could relate to differences in recording context.

Shared cognitive impairments and aetiology in ADHD symptoms and reading difficulties.

Background: Twin studies indicate that the frequent co-occurrence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and reading difficulties (RD) is largely due to shared genetic influences. Both disorders are associated with multiple cognitive impairments, but it remains unclear which cognitive impairments share the aetiological pathway, underlying the co-occurrence of the symptoms. We address this question using a sample of twins aged 7-10 and a range of cognitive measures previously associated with ADHD symptoms or RD.

Aetiology for the covariation between combined type ADHD and reading difficulties in a family study: the role of IQ.

Background: Twin studies using both clinical and population-based samples suggest that the frequent co-occurrence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and reading ability/disability (RD) is largely driven by shared genetic influences. While both disorders are associated with lower IQ, recent twin data suggest that the shared genetic variability between reading difficulties and ADHD inattention symptoms is largely independent from genetic influences contributing to general cognitive ability. The current study aimed to extend the previous findings that were based on rating scale measures in a population sample by examining the generalisability of the findings to a clinical population, and by measuring reading difficulties both with a rating scale and with an objective task.

Face-related ERPs are modulated by point of gaze.

This study examined the influence of gaze fixation on face-sensitive ERPs. A fixation crosshair presented prior to face onset directed visual attention to upper, central, or lower face regions while ERPs were recorded. This manipulation modulated a face-sensitive component (N170) but not an early sensory component (P1).

Neural responses to faces reflect social personality traits.

Faces are a developmentally primary and critically important source of social information, and they are processed differently from most other visual percepts. Studies of brain electrophysiology reveal a face-sensitive component, the N170, which is typically enhanced to faces relative to other stimuli. Research in social disabilities suggests that an atypical N170 response in this population may stem from decreased developmental exposure to faces secondary to reduced social interest.