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Updated: May 9, 2026

Using Brain Activation (nir-HEG/Q-EEG) and Execution Measures (CPTs) in a ADHD Assessment Protocol
Published on: April 1, 2018
An examination of the specificity of motivation and executive functioning in ADHD symptom-clusters in adolescence
Hector I Lopez-Vergara1, Craig R Colder
1219 Park Hall, Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA. hilopez2@buffalo.edu.
Objective:
Motivation and executive functioning are central to the etiology of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Furthermore, it has been hypothesized that motivation should show specificity of association with ADHD-impulsivity/hyperactivity symptoms, whereas executive functioning should show specificity of association with ADHD-inattention symptoms. This study tests this specificity-hypothesis and extends previous research by conceptualizing motivation to include both reactivity to reward and punishment.
Methods:
Executive functioning was assessed using two different laboratory measures (the Wisconsin-Card-Sort and Stop-Signal Tasks) and motivation was measured using a laboratory measure of sensitivity to reward and punishment (the Point-Scoring-Reaction-Time Task).
Results:
Findings suggested specificity of association between executive functioning and symptoms of inattention, and between motivation and symptoms of impulsivity/hyperactivity. However, support varied across indices of executive functioning.
Conclusions:
Results provide support for multiple component models of ADHD symptoms and extend the literature by providing a theoretically based conceptualization of motivation grounded on developmental neuroscience models of motivated behavior.
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