[Assessment of executive/attentional performance in Asperger's disorder]

Deficient executive functioning (EF) has been reported in several neurodevelopmental disorders, including autistic spectrum disorders; however, many studies included heterogeneous groups and few have focused on EF in individuals with Asperger's disorder (AD) in relation to attentional performance. The aim of the present study was to compare executive/attentional performance in children and adolescents with AD to that in controls, and to assess the influence of comorbid attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) on that performance.

In total, 21 individuals with AD aged between 8 and 16 years (diagnosed according to DSM-IV criteria) and 18 age- gender-, education-, and IQ-matched volunteer controls were administered the Continuous Performance Test (CPT), Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Stroop Test, and verbal fluency tests.

The participants with AD had more perseverative responses and errors, and fewer conceptual level responses, and generated fewer categories on the WCST. They also had lower phonological fluency scores, but were similar to the controls in terms of semantic fluency, CPT, and Stroop scores. Comparison of those with comorbid ADHD and those without ADHD (AD+ADHD and pure AD, respectively) revealed that the AD+ADHD subgroup had lower CPT, semantic fluency, and Stroop interference scores.

The present study indicated a clear profile of a dysexecutive syndrome among the participants with AD and that ADHD comorbidity exacerbated deficits in attentional tasks.