Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 16, 2026

The Adventures of Fundi Intervention Based on the Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Patients
Published on: June 12, 2020
Brain arousal regulation in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
Maria Strauß1, Christine Ulke2, Madlen Paucke1
1Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Leipzig University Hospital, Leipzig, Germany.
Abstract:
The main aim of the current study was to test the hypothesis that adult patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have less stable brain arousal regulation than healthy controls. We objectively assessed brain arousal regulation using the Vigilance Algorithm Leipzig (VIGALL 2.1) to analyze 15-min resting EEG data of thirty-three ADHD patients and thirty-five matched controls. Based on automatically classified 1-s segments we computed mean EEG-vigilance (indexing arousal level) and arousal stability score (indexing arousal regulation). Adult ADHD patients showed significantly lower arousal levels and significantly less stable brain arousal regulation than controls. Multiple regression analysis indicated that arousal regulation (i.e., arousal stability score) predicted the retrospectively-assessed severity of childhood ADHD symptoms, supporting the trait aspect of brain arousal regulation. Our findings support the arousal regulation model of ADHD, which interprets hyperactivity and sensation seeking as an autoregulatory reaction to an unstable regulation of brain arousal. EEG-based arousal parameters may be candidate biomarkers for adult ADHD.
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
13:09Using Brain Activation nir-HEG/Q-EEG and Execution Measures CPTs in a ADHD Assessment Protocol
Published on: April 1, 2018
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....
Optimal Arousal Theory
Inverted U-Shaped Performance Curve
The...
Intrinsically Disordered Proteins
Epigenetic Regulation
GTPases and their Regulation
Large G-proteins,...
Regulated Protein Degradation
Protein degradation plays two important roles in the cells. It helps to protect cells from misfolded or damaged proteins before they lead to a...