Dysfunctional oscillatory bursting patterns underlie working memory deficits in adolescents with ADHD.

Identifying neural markers of clinical symptom fluctuations is prerequisite to developing more precise brain-targeted treatments in psychiatry. We have recently shown that working memory (WM) in healthy adults is dependent on the rise and fall interplay between alpha/beta and gamma bursts within frontoparietal regions, and that deviations in these patterns lead to WM performance errors. However, it is not known whether such bursting deviations underlie clinically relevant WM-related symptoms or clinical status in individuals with WM deficits.

Transdiagnostic Attentional Deficits Are Associated with Depressive and Externalizing Symptoms in Children and Adolescents with Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

Objective: Although inattention, impulsivity, and impairments to vigilance are most associated with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), transdiagnostic attentional deficits are prevalent across all psychiatric disorders. To further elucidate this relationship, the present study investigated parent-reported neuropsychiatric symptom correlates of attention deficits using the factor structure of the Conners' Continuous Performance Test (CPT-II), a neuropsychological test of attention.

Method: Two-hundred and eighteen children and adolescents (7-21 years old) completed the CPT-II as part of standard clinical protocol during outpatient pediatric neuropsychology visits.