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Event Related Potentials ERPs and other EEG Based Methods for Extracting Biomarkers of Brain Dysfunction: Examples from Pediatric Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder ADHD
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REM theta activity enhances inhibitory control in typically developing children but not children with ADHD symptoms

Amanda Cremone1,2, Claudia I Lugo-Candelas2, Elizabeth A Harvey2

  • 1Neuroscience and Behavior Program, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 01003, USA.

Experimental Brain Research
|March 2, 2017
PubMed

Insights

Children with ADHD experience sleep disturbances that impact cognitive functions. Overnight sleep did not improve inhibitory control or attention in children with ADHD, unlike in typically developing children.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Psychology
  • Sleep Medicine

Background:

  • Sleep disturbances are common in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
  • Cognitive functions, particularly inhibitory control and attention, are often impaired in ADHD.
  • The relationship between sleep deficits and inhibitory impairments in ADHD is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of overnight sleep on inhibitory control and sustained attention in children with ADHD.
  • To explore the association between sleep-related brain activity (REM theta) and cognitive performance in children with and without ADHD.

Main Methods:

  • A Go/No-Go task was used to assess inhibitory control and sustained attention.
  • Participants included children with ADHD (n=18) and typically developing controls (n=15).
  • Cognitive tasks were administered before and after polysomnography-monitored overnight sleep.

Main Results:

  • Overnight sleep improved inhibitory control and sustained attention in typically developing children.
  • Inhibitory control in typically developing children correlated positively with REM theta activity.
  • Children with ADHD showed no improvement in these cognitive functions after sleep, and REM theta activity was not associated with their performance.

Conclusions:

  • Elevated REM theta activity in children with ADHD may be functionally linked to ADHD symptoms.
  • This finding suggests potential delayed cortical maturation in children with ADHD.
  • Sleep does not benefit cognitive functions like inhibitory control and attention in children with ADHD as it does in typically developing children.

Keywords:
ADHDInhibitory controlREMSleepSustained attentionTheta activity

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