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Updated: Jun 20, 2026
Classical Short-Delay Eyeblink Conditioning in One-Year-Old Children
Published on: September 1, 2018
Timing of conditioned eyeblink responses is impaired in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
Markus Frings1, Kristina Gaertner, Paul Buderath
1Department of Neurology, University of Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45122, Essen, Germany. markus.frings@uni-duisburg-essen.de
Insights
Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show impaired eyeblink conditioning, particularly in timing and extinction. Cerebellar dysfunction may contribute, but non-cerebellar issues are also possible.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Psychiatry
Background:
- Cerebellar structural changes are noted in psychiatric disorders like ADHD.
- Children with ADHD often exhibit motor abnormalities, potentially linked to cerebellar function.
- The cerebellum is crucial for motor control, learning, and response timing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate eyeblink conditioning in children with ADHD and cerebellar lesions.
- To assess learning, timing, and extinction of motor responses in these groups.
- To explore the role of cerebellar malfunction in ADHD-related motor deficits.
Main Methods:
- Eyeblink conditioning using a standard delay paradigm.
- Comparison of children with ADHD, children with cerebellar lesions, and controls.
- Inclusion of two different interstimulus intervals to analyze timing.
Main Results:
- Impaired timing of conditioned eyeblink responses in children with ADHD at longer intervals.
- Earlier occurrence of conditioned responses in children with cerebellar lesions.
- Reduced incidence and impaired extinction of conditioned responses in children with cerebellar lesions and ADHD.
Conclusions:
- Cerebellar malfunction may contribute to impaired eyeblink conditioning in ADHD.
- Observed differences in conditioned response abnormalities suggest involvement of non-cerebellar structures.
- Further research is needed to fully elucidate the neurobiological underpinnings of ADHD.
Abstract:
Structural changes of the cerebellum have been reported in several psychiatric diseases like schizophrenia, autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Beside behavioral deficits children with ADHD often show slight motor abnormalities. Cerebellar malfunction may contribute. The cerebellum is a structure essential for motor coordination, various forms of motor learning and timing of motor responses. In the present study, eyeblink conditioning was applied to investigate learning and timing of motor responses both in children with ADHD and children with cerebellar lesions. Acquisition, timing and extinction of conditioned eyeblink responses were investigated in children with ADHD, children with chronic surgical cerebellar lesions and controls using a standard delay paradigm with two different interstimulus intervals. Timing of conditioned eyeblink responses was significantly impaired in children with ADHD in the long interstimulus interval condition. Also in children with cerebellar lesions conditioned responses (CR) tended to occur earlier than in controls. Incidences of CRs were significantly reduced in children with cerebellar lesions and tended to be less in children with ADHD than in controls. Extinction of the CRs was impaired in children with cerebellar lesions in both interstimulus interval conditions and in children with ADHD in the long interstimulus interval condition. Cerebellar malfunction may contribute to disordered eyeblink conditioning in ADHD. However, because CR abnormalities differed between ADHD and cerebellar subjects, dysfunction of non-cerebellar structures cannot be excluded.
