Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Touchscreen Sustained Attention Task (SAT) for Rats
Published on: September 15, 2017
Sustained and focused attention deficits in adult ADHD
Natalie D J Marchetta1, Petra P M Hurks, Leo M J De Sonneville
1Maastricht University, Maastricht, Netherlands.
Objective:
To examine the specificity of deficits in focused attention and sustained attention in adults with ADHD and to evaluate the effect of comorbidity.
Method:
Twenty-eight adults with ADHD without comorbidity were compared with 28 ADHD outpatients with comorbidity. Two control groups were used: 68 adults referred for ADHD but with another psychopathology rather than ADHD (non-ADHD) and 28 healthy controls. All participants completed attention tests of the Amsterdam Neuropsychological Tasks program.
Results:
Both ADHD groups demonstrated a sustained attention deficit relative to the control groups, as indicated by a disproportionate deterioration of speed fluctuation with time-on-task reflecting temporal lapses in attention. Only the ADHD+ group showed focused attention deficits in that they were less able to ignore irrelevant information.
Conclusion:
These findings show that adults with ADHD have specific deficits in sustained attention. Additional deficits in focused attention are confined to outpatients with ADHD and comorbidity.
More Related Videos
10:02Event Related Potentials (ERPs) and other EEG Based Methods for Extracting Biomarkers of Brain Dysfunction: Examples from Pediatric Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Published on: March 12, 2020
05:48The Adventures of Fundi Intervention Based on the Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Patients
Published on: June 12, 2020
Related Concept Videos
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and Symptoms
To diagnose ADHD, symptoms must manifest before age 12 and be evident across multiple settings.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder
Diagnostic Criteria and...
Cognitive Development During Adulthood
High-Level and Low-Level Awareness
Information Processing Approach
Alzheimer's Disease: Overview
The clinical diagnosis of AD hinges on the presence of memory and other cognitive impairments. Biomarkers, such as changes in Aβ and tau...