The role of state feelings of loneliness in the situational regulation of social affiliative behavior: Exploring the regulatory relations within a multilevel framework.

Previous empirical evidence suggests that the engagement in social interactions across different everyday contexts occurs in a manner highly responsive to a person's social affiliation needs. As has been shown repeatedly, social engagement (as well as disengagement) can be predicted from earlier situational need states, implying that homeostatic principles underlie a person's social affiliative behaviors. However, little is known about the role of emotion in these regulative processes.

Neurological soft signs are associated with attentional dysfunction in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Introduction: Inattention is one of the core symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Most of patients with ADHD show motor impairment, consisting in the persistence of neurological soft signs (NSS). Our aim was to evaluate attentional and motor functioning in an ADHD sample and healthy children (HC) and possible link between attentional dysfunction and motor impairment in ADHD.

Cognitive impairment in adult ADHD--perspective matters!

Objective: The assessment of cognitive functions of adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) comprises self-ratings of cognitive functioning (subjective assessment) as well as psychometric testing (objective neuropsychological assessment). The aim of the present study was to explore the utility of these assessment strategies in predicting neuropsychological impairments of adults with ADHD as determined by both approaches.

Method: Fifty-five adults with ADHD and 66 healthy participants were assessed with regard to cognitive functioning in several domains by employing subjective and objective measurement tools.

Spatial memory in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR).

The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) is an established animal model of ADHD. It has been suggested that ADHD symptoms arise from deficits in executive functions such as working memory, attentional control and decision making. Both ADHD patients and SHRs show deficits in spatial working memory.

Attention impairment in childhood absence epilepsy: an impulsivity problem?

Although attention problems have often been described in children with childhood absence epilepsy (CAE), the use of different methodological approaches, neuropsychological tests, and heterogeneous experimental groups has prevented identification of the selective areas of attention deficit in this population. In this study, we investigated several components of attention in children with CAE using a unique computerized test battery for attention performance. Participants included 24 patients with CAE and 24 controls matched for age and sex.

Benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes and the multicomponent model of attention: a matched control study.

Although the high risk of cognitive impairments in benign childhood epilepsy with centrotemporal spikes (BCECTS) is now well established, there is no clear definition of a uniform neurocognitive profile. This study was based on a neuropsychological model of attention that assessed various components of attention in 21 children with BCECTS and 21 healthy children. All participants were tested with a computerized test battery using the multicomponent model of attention performance.

Clustering and switching on verbal and figural fluency functions in adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Introduction: Neuropsychological studies of adult patients with ADHD have revealed marked disturbances of executive functions including impairments of attention, working memory, impulsivity, shifting, and divergent thinking. Phonemic fluency tasks, in particular, have been shown to be sensitive measures for the assessment of executive functions of adults with ADHD.

Methods: The present study has examined figural fluency and both phonemic and semantic verbal fluency in 34 adult patients with ADHD and 34 healthy participants.