EEG coherence adjusted for inter-electrode distance in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Cognition and behaviour depend on the integration of activity in different brain regions, and hence study of the coupling between regions is useful in understanding dysfunctional processes involved in disorders such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). Such coupling can be estimated by the electroencephalographic (EEG) coherence between scalp electrodes. However, EEG coherence between two points is strongly affected by the distance between them, being inflated by volume conduction effects at short distances and reduced by signal phase differences at larger distances. These distance effects preclude simple comparison of coherence estimates involving different inter-electrode distances. Our group recently introduced a procedure for adjusting coherence measures to remove such distance effects, and explored its potential using normal children. In this study we applied that coherence adjustment procedure to groups of children with AD/HD of the combined (AD/HDcom) and predominantly inattentive (AD/HDin) subtypes, and compared them with a control group. All groups were age- and gender-matched. AD/HD children were found to have a reciprocal pattern of coherence disturbance in the cortico-cortical circuits involved in slow and fast wave activity-elevated slow-wave coherences and reduced fast-wave coherences. This disturbance was larger for inter-hemispheric than intra-hemispheric coherences, and varied markedly with region, suggesting a complex pattern of coherence anomalies with a substantial frontal focus. This complex pattern differed little between subtypes, suggesting that it may constitute the fundamental dysfunction underlying the inattention common to both groups. In contrast, coherence was globally elevated in children with AD/HDcom compared with both AD/HDin and control children. This elevation in coherence may be directly related to the hyperactivity and impulsivity unique to that subtype. Further research using the coherence adjustment procedure appears useful in elucidating the electrophysiological anomalies underlying AD/HD and other disorders.