Clara Pretus1,2, Marisol Picado1, Antoni Ramos-Quiroga1,3, Susanna Carmona4,5, Vanessa Richarte1,3, Jordi Fauquet1, Óscar Vilarroya1,2. 1. Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain. 2. Fundació IMIM (Institut Municipal d'Investigacions Mèdicques), Barcelona, Spain. 3. Hospital Universitari de la Vall d'Hebron, Barcelona, Spain. 4. Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, Madrid, Spain. 5. Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain.
Abstract
Objective: It is widely accepted that patients with ADHD exhibit greater susceptibility to distractors, especially during tasks with higher working memory load demands. However, no study to date has specifically measured the impact of distractors on timing functions, although these have consistently shown alterations in ADHD. In this investigation, we aimed to elucidate the neural mechanisms mediating distractor effects on timing functions. Method: We employed a time estimation functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm including a distracting element in half of the trials in a sample of 21 patients with ADHD and 24 healthy controls. Results: As expected, the effect of the distractor was greater in ADHD patients, where it was associated with increased orbitofrontal activity compared with controls. Behaviorally, time estimation performance benefited from the presence of distractors in both groups. In turn, such improvement correlated with medial frontal and insular activity in the brain. Conclusion: These results suggest that distractors could be stimulating recruitment of frontal resources in ADHD, thus contributing to increase focus on the task.
Objective: It is widely accepted that patients with ADHD exhibit greater susceptibility to distractors, especially during tasks with higher working memory load demands. However, no study to date has specifically measured the impact of distractors on timing functions, although these have consistently shown alterations in ADHD. In this investigation, we aimed to elucidate the neural mechanisms mediating distractor effects on timing functions. Method: We employed a time estimation functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigm including a distracting element in half of the trials in a sample of 21 patients with ADHD and 24 healthy controls. Results: As expected, the effect of the distractor was greater in ADHDpatients, where it was associated with increased orbitofrontal activity compared with controls. Behaviorally, time estimation performance benefited from the presence of distractors in both groups. In turn, such improvement correlated with medial frontal and insular activity in the brain. Conclusion: These results suggest that distractors could be stimulating recruitment of frontal resources in ADHD, thus contributing to increase focus on the task.
Entities:
Keywords:
ADHD; adult ADHD; distractors; fMRI; orbitofrontal; time estimation
Authors: Annet Bluschke; Nicolas Zink; Moritz Mückschel; Veit Roessner; Christian Beste Journal: Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry Date: 2020-05-14 Impact factor: 4.785